Nighstalker Style
by catsvrsdogscatswin
Summary: Witch, Weapon, and Meister all in one! For Kage, that's the least of her worries. Her big problems are more "How do I stay alive another day" and "keep my brother in one piece" Oh wait, did we forget to mention her family's been sending witches after her since she was six, and a Kishin more powerful than Asura wants her dead? Read my Hellsing fanfic too! Sadly, this must be Kidxoc.
1. New Students

_**Check out my Hellsing fanfic, because I'll only be doing this when I can't work on my other one anymore. Well, by the time this is online I'll be done with both of my Hellsing fanfics. I like Soul Eater way better than Hellsing, but I was on a Hellsing craze when I discovered Fanfiction. This fanfic will be using Nightmare before Xmas, because that just goes hand in hand with Soul Eater. YouTube, when you type Soul Eater in, This is Halloween is the fourth one down.**_

_Lord Death's POV:_

Oh boy, a new student! Two new students! I couldn't wait! I was so excited! "Lord Death, sir, please calm down." Death scythe stood in front of me, looking annoyed. I stopped bouncing. "What? They said they needed to adjust to life here before going out on missions, but they'll be attending the DWMA before long, and I'm always so excited about that."

Lord Death didn't know just how much adjusting the pair needed however, before they could fit in. In fact, the pair probably wouldn't fit in, ever.

_Kage's POV:_

The sand around us shifted like mist, obscuring the bright city we had seen a few hours ago, before this cursed sandstorm started up. My brother was behind me, keeping one hand on my arm in case he got lost. My name's Kage. Pronounced Ka-ghe, thank you. Not what some people seemed to think, they just pronounced it _"cage"_. My brother Akuma didn't have the same problem. Just A-ku-ma.

I'm a meister. Well, mostly. I'm part weapon too, as far as the DWMA is concerned. That's all I will be for them. My brother's the weapon, although he was much less _mixed_ than me, and was really just that. He needed my or _his_ help to use his other…forms. He was two swords, although once I resonated with him, he'd meld into one.

Almost directly in front of us, a building reared up out of the sand. The storm was getting worse too, so we had no choice but to go in. It had a walled courtyard around it, so the sand wasn't blowing so badly. We walked up to the door, and I knocked my fist against it. It made a hollow booming sound, like there was a long empty hallway behind it. We waited, and suddenly the door began to move.

We both backed up, watching it nervously. When no one came out, we were even less inclined to go in. What can I say? I'm an alarmist. I have two rules about strange buildings in the middle of nowhere. One, never enter without permission, and two, _never _go in when the door opens by itself and no one comes out to greet you. Especially, as I now noticed, the courtyard is covered in creepy stitches, and strange looking dead trees.

I heard a rolling sound, and Akuma transformed. I caught the two swords, waiting for whatever was coming out to do so. A familiar looking man on a squeaky wheel chair suddenly crashed over the doorstep, almost making me panic. My brother did. _"Oh my god, is that HIM!" _I shook my head rapidly. The man on the ground in front of us was not Jack. Our panic was justified, however, because the man had a very close resemblance to Jack, although he was older, with silver hair, glasses, and stitches all over his body.

"Did you need me for something? I don't need to go to the school until the new weapon-meister pair are done settling in." he said, looking up at us in resented annoyance. "Oh, erm, that's us sir," I said, letting go of my brother as he flashed back to human form. "We were coming here and the dust storm is kinda disorienting. Do you think you could give us directions?" I stood on one leg, feeling sheepish.

He looked at us, frowning. He got up, and I felt that ticklish sensation of having my soul examined. "You have very strong souls, in fact," he hit one hand with the other. "Your brother is a Death scythe, isn't he?" I gulped. "He has eaten all the necessary souls, but this is the first time we have ever come to the DWMA, sir." He raised his eyebrows. "And if I'm feeling your souls correctly… so have you?" I brushed some sand off my clothes, avoiding his eyes. "I'm part weapon, so I can consume souls, and we figured, stronger is better, even if the meister is the one swallowing souls. My brother was already a Death scythe, so it was something to do with them, at least."

He shrugged, and I felt a surge of relief when he stopped looking at our souls. It was way too uncomfortable for me, even though I was pretty sure the Soul protects Lock had put on us were strong enough. He turned towards another section of the house, motioning us to follow. We both shrugged and went after him. There was a garage, quite apart from all the other stuff, invisible from the front.

He went in, and showed us a really shiny bike. Apart from the shiny though, it was literally held together by stitches. Metal stitches, but that didn't make a difference. He turned it on, and gave us a map showing us how to get to Death City. It was really close, but I was worried about the old bike. "It'll make it." The man said, patting it lovingly. "I've put this together and apart tons of times, and know it inside and out. If you're worried about someone stealing it, don't be. Everyone knows this bike belongs to Professor Stein.

I swallowed hard. Stein, the ultimate meister. We had just walked right into his yard. I just was really glad he- "You know," he said casually, looking at both of us, "I could take you apart too. New test subjects are always such fun." I sighed. _Or not._ "No thanks!" I said cheerily, hopping on the bike. Akuma jumped up beside me, and we started driving off. "But we'll bring the bike back tomorrow!" I yelled over my shoulder. Akuma pressed against me in annoyance. _"We could totally just have him come get it, you know." _I shuddered. _"Do you want him to know where we will be living?" _He gulped. _"Excellent point."_

_***Time Skip***_

I opened the door to our new apartment, sighing in relief to be out of the desert. It was a bit too bright for either of us, but luckily we could fix that. I dug around in my backpack, bringing up our goodbye present from Barrel. It was a paint can, but not just any paint can. I looked around for inspiration. I saw a greenish tint to the couch, and figured a color that might go well with that. I dipped my hand into the can, and then pressed it against the wall.

A nice, soothing forest green color spread out from my hand, covering the wall. After a few moments, the living room was colored. Repeat for bedrooms and kitchen, and we were ready to go. I used a few more of the magic tools Barrel had given us earlier, joking that as much as we moved, we needed to shape stuff to our need.

After about an hour, the apartment was completely different. A soothing blend of grey, dark green, brown, and light blue greeted they eye as you walked in. The couch was still the same, but I had changed the coffee table in front of it into something a bit more natural, a silvery grey piece, with tiny spiraling designs in dark green, to match the walls. The rest of the cabinets, shelves, and suchlike matched it, at least in that room.

The kitchen was a light blue, with soft fawn cabinets and matching appliances. Our rooms were pretty much identical, a stormy-grey mixture of paint that looked like a brewing thunderstorm, which was actually pretty calming for us, at least in the middle of the night. We each had a dark brown desk, and a bed with carved paneling, and dark colored blankets. What can I say? We were a bit depressing in our styles, but it was just so calming when I was surrounded by dark colors and furniture.

I laid out my change of clothes, noting that we needed to go shopping as soon as we were finished unpacking here. We already had all our school stuff, so clothes and food. Akuma pushed my door open, saying "I'm not shopping in a city I barely know, so I'll hold down the fort until you leave, okay?" I saluted him sarcastically. "Sir yes sir!"

I walked out the door, grabbing my keys from the desk. I picked up my purse, noting that I still had enough money to get us all the necessities. Luckily, there was a clothing store not far from our apartment, as the students probably shopped for new clothes all the time. I moved through the sliding doors, relieved to see no one started staring. I had black jeans, a black t-shirt, and a leather black jacket that was zipped up to where my cleavage started. Black combat boots thudded on the floor as I walked to where the woman's clothing was kept.

In other words, I was the very picture of a Goth punk. I couldn't help it; I wasn't a Goth at all. I shopped, getting all of my clothing before I started on my brothers. We both dressed exactly alike, because if someone wanted to grab either of us we could just put on a hat or something and be indistinguishable from each other, at least from the back.

I was done, and I turned to leave. I felt a weapon-meister pair's souls come in through the door, and almost looked for a hiding place. _No,_ I reminded myself as I made for the cash register. _I am not on the wrong side of the law anymore, and am going to be normal, for once._

I checked out, and turned to see a girl with a trench coat and a boy in a yellow sweatshirt looking at me. The girl walked towards me, and I sensed she was a meister. This explained why I hadn't gotten any weird looks, if there were people dressed like this floating around. "Hello, I'm Maka Albarn, a sycthemeister, and this is Soul, my weapon." She said, sticking out her hand. I gripped it, shaking her hand once and saying "Kage. Twin swordsmeister." _And Demonmeister, _I added silently, letting go of her hand.

"Well, I have to get home, goodbye." I said, sidestepping her and walking out the door. I felt her soul's confusion, and then she brightened, thinking I was just shy. _Hmph. Silly girl, I'm not shy, I'm just really unsociable._ I finished my shopping and went home without further incident. _Tomorrow, _I thought as I drifted off to sleep that night. _Tomorrow we start at DWMA._

_**About Stein's bike, well, how do you expect him to get back and forth from the DWMA and his house every day? It has clearly stated in the manga that his house is outside the city limits. Also, if some perceptive people have noticed I'm using a lot of stuff from Nightmare before X-mas, you're right. I'm borrowing heavily from that, although the characters don't know it. Flame if you will, I don't really care. Kage and Akuma's jackets look just like Soul's black one. This whole story is kinda whack, because my friend challenged me to write a story that was based on AMV's from Soul Eater. So if the whole tone abruptly shifts, that's because I moved to a different song. Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien! **_


	2. Death Scythes and Three-stars

_**We've reached the next chapter, and Kage's only met Maka and Soul. So, I'm going to introduce them both to everyone else, in a way you all will probably expect. By the way, they use the Halloween song like a charge-up, to make their attacks more powerful, in case you're confused. When you get to that part, listen to the song (This is Halloween, by **__**Marilyn Manson)**____**it makes it really epic. I do not own the song though!**_

_Kage's POV:_

Morning was heralded by a pounding at my door. I jumped out of bed, hearing Akuma on the other side, yelling "Get up, we'll be late!" I speeded to my closet, threw on my ensemble, tore over to the kitchen, rapidly brushing my hair as I went. I ate an apple, a bowl of oatmeal, and drank some milk before my brother dragged himself out of the bathroom. He ate his breakfast as I took a super quick shower, and I met him at the door as he was still munching on a pear.

We both had our stuff, which was really just our registration papers, since we didn't have a class yet. I gunned the engine of Stein's bike as we sped through Death City, getting closer and closer to the Academy. I felt I had enough time to say "You know, this Death City architecture reminds me a bit of home." Akuma nodded, looking around us.

I parked the bike at the bottom of the long staircase, and we were on time enough to walk the rest of the way. About twenty minutes later, we got to the top, looking around for directions. I spotted a blue-haired guy standing by what seemed to be the entrance, but before I could ask him anything he started yelling at us. "ARE YOU THE NEW KIDS?! IF SO, I'M GONNA STOMP YOU INTO THE GROUND FOR TAKING MY SPOTLIGHT! FOR I AM-" he struck a dramatic pose "BLACKSTAR!"

I raised my eyebrows. "Can you wait to stomp us after we're registered? We might be late if we fight now." He glared at us. "Why, your scared aren't you? I understand. I'm the man who's going to surpass god after all!" I narrowed my eyes. I can take a lot of insults, but being called a scaredy-cat was not one of them. I was going to fight him, but I wanted to push his buttons first. So I yawned.

"Scared of you? I don't see why I should be scared of a little boy with an ego problem. If anything, I think you should be the scared one. After all, most people who come here have a lot of fighting skill, although they must have made an exception for you." Ohhh, his face then was priceless. He charged at me, and I could see from the way he moved that he actually did know how to fight.

I ducked his blow and casually used its force to knock him over my shoulder. "Do you want to help, or should you go get the teachers?" I asked Akuma. He shrugged. "Teacher, but I think it won't last that long." The guy was almost speechless with fury. "NONE CAN IGNORE THE GREAT BLACKSTAR! I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE BEATEN BY A GOD!"

I laughed and we began to fight in earnest. I started to hum our song in my head. _Boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange? _ He swung at me again and missed, and I ducked and vaulted him over my hip. We began circling each other, measuring the opponent with our eyes. _Come with us and you will see, this, our town of Halloween. This is Halloween, this is Halloween. _He moved in, trying to hit me with a soul force, which I dodged. _Pumpkins scream in the dead of night._

I moved in low. _This is Halloween, everybody make a scene_. I hit him once, twice, three times, just punching, no soul force from me yet. _Trick or Treat till the neighbor's gonna die of fright. _He jerked back, stunned. _It's our town, everybody scream! _I settled back down into a crouch. _In this town of Halloween. _ A flash of light leapt into his hands, forming a chain scythe. _I am the one hiding under your bed._ He hurled it at me as soon as it was fully formed. _Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red. _I slid under its trajectory, moving towards him. _I am the one hiding under your stairs_. I jerked a hand up, hitting him with my Soul Force. _Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair._

_This is Halloween. _We shifted back and forth, trying to find an opening. _This is Halloween_. He suddenly charged towards me, poking at me with swift, jabbing attacks. _Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween! _ I dodged them all, aware that we were drawing a crowd. _In this town we call home, everyone hail to the pumpkin Soul! _I hit with my wavelength again, seeing him stumble and almost fall. He countered, sweeping the air with razor sharp blades. _In this town, don't we love it now; everybody's waiting for the next surprise! _He hit me this time, with his wavelength, and I felt how strong it was.

I staggered backward, pretending to be much more hurt than I actually was. _Round that corner man, hiding in the trash can, _he ran towards me, intent on finishing me off. _Something's waiting now to pounce and how you'll. _I hit him, hard. _Scream! _I attacked him in an onslaught, pounding on his defense. _This is Halloween, red and black and slimy green._ He fell down, still holding up. _Aren't you scared? _He glared up at me, suddenly changing his weapon to a shuriken. _Well that's just fine. _He threw it, and I dodged, once, twice as it boomeranged back at my head.

_Say it once say it twice, take a chance and roll the dice. _I caught it just as he was about to grab it and threw it away. _Ride with the moon in the dead of night. _I hit him again and again with my soul. _Everybody scream! Everybody scream! _He fell into a crouch, and I noticed he was breathing hard. _In our town of Halloween. _ I decided to end this. _I am the clown with a tear-away face; _I sped up, darting around him like a fly. I hit him on the back of the head, and he almost fell. _Here in a flash and gone without a trace. _

I was pounding him now, but he wasn't giving in. _I am the" who" when you call "who's there?", I am the wind blowing through your hair. _I jumped into the air, knowing I was running out of time on the song. _I am the shadow on the moon at night, filling your dreams to the brim with fright. _"Soul Smash!" I called, and a bubble of bluish light appeared between me and him, grinding him into the ground. I let the song in my head fade away; knowing I had almost come to the part where you-know-who comes in.

Everyone in the crowd stared as Blackstar lay on the ground, not moving. A girl with a weapons soul and black hair ran back over to him. "Blackstar! Are you ok?!" She turned him over, and I wondered if I hit him too hard. He coughed and stared breathing. I faded into the crowd, not wanting the publicity of being the victor.

I went inside, and saw Akuma leaning against the wall with his arms folded, glaring at me. I hung my head, not even needing our mental link to know what was wrong. _"I know sometimes you really can't help it, but this is not a place where we can just throw our powers around._ _Too much and Jack will find us, Death City or no." _I sighed. "Sorry, but he was just asking for it. Where's our class?" He looked at the papers in his book bag. "Class Crescent Moon." We both looked at the map, and headed there.

_Maka's POV:_

We were just settling down when Stein remembered something. "Class, as I'm sure you know, two new students will be joining us today." A knocking at the door interrupted him. He turned and wheeled over, opening it. The girl I saw yesterday and a boy wearing the same clothes as her walked in. "Ah, welcome. Why don't you come up here and introduce yourself to the class?"

They both walked up to the front, not saying anything. The girl spoke first. "My name's Kage, I'm a meister. This is my partner, Akuma. He's my brother, and he's a sword. Thank you." She bowed slightly, and waited for Stein to say something. He looked at her for a moment, and then shrugged. "You can sit over by Soul and Maka." He said pointing to us. "I think those two are a bit shy, don't you?" I whispered to Soul. He shook his head. "I don't know about Kage, but Akuma looks cool." I looked at Akuma, and he did look a bit like a "cool" person, staring at all of us with a scowl on his face, hands shoved in his pockets.

They sat next to us, getting out their books as Stein began his lecture on Soul Resonance. I paid attention, although I looked over at one point and saw them staring off into space, not paying attention at all. Stein noticed too, and asked "But what will happen if a meister resonates with a weapon not attuned to their wavelength? Kage, would you answer for us?" She blinked, and said "It's different for every person, but you won't be able to wield the weapon, or you'll have some sort of physical difficulty with it, I guess."

Stein raised his eyebrows, but before he could ask more the bell rang. Kage and her brother got their books without talking and left the room, along with most everyone else. "Hey, where's Blackstar?" Liz asked, noticing how quiet it was. I looked at where Tsubaki usually sat, but she wasn't there either. I pointed this out, and Soul said "She probably is trying to talk Blackstar out of skipping, and skipping herself on accident."

Kid said "I bet he's waiting by the entrance to fight those two new kids, like he did for me." We all shrugged it off and went to lunch, but when we got there we noticed the two new kids sitting in our usual spot. They were eating, and when they saw us they looked around, a bit guiltily I thought. "Sorry if we're in your spot, but it was the only open ones." Kage said, starting to get up. We all sat down, and I said "Don't worry; you can have Blackstar's spot, since he hasn't shown up yet. They both sat down, looking grateful.

We ate in silence, until Kage spoke up again. "What's with all this three-star, two-star, one-star meister business?" I, happy to explain, said "A one-star is us, meisters who haven't made a death scythe yet, two-stars are the ones that have, and a three-star meister is one who's made a Death scythe, and can fight without a weapon."

They both nodded. Patty, ever the obvious one, said "You guys don't talk much do you?!" Liz scolded her. "Patty, some people are just shy. Let them eat. I'm Liz, this is Patty, and you've met Maka and Soul already." She nodded to all of us. Kid was focusing on his plate, trying to eat symmetrically. She nudged him. "And the quiet one over here is Death the Kid, but just call him Kid for short." They both stared at Kid. "He's a Reaper, isn't he?" Akuma said, turning back to his food.

We all stared at him now. He didn't even look up as he said "I know what you're thinking, but I'm part meister after all, just like my sister's part weapon. We can do small things. I just can't wield anyone." Kage looked up at us. "And I can't transform fully, but we can give the enemy one heck of a surprise when I stab him." The bell rang over head, and a voice called "Meister Kage and partner please report to the Death Room immediately." They both got up and walked away, dumping their trays in the trash bin. "Bye, see ya." Kage called as they walked out.

_Kage's POV:_

"So what do you think Death wants?" I asked as we walked along the hallways. Akuma shrugged. "He might be yelling at you for knocking out the Blackstar guy." I swallowed. "He won't kick us out will he?!" Akuma shook his head. "Unlikely, we've only been here for a couple hours." We arrived at the Death Room's door, and we opened it. Lord Death was bouncing around by his giant mirror, and a man in a suit with red hair was standing by him, with Stein.

"Hello, hello, wazzup, WAZZUP!" Lord Death said, talking in a little kid voice. "Erm, hi…" I said, not getting up on the platform. "It's ok, he's normally like this." Stein said, shaking his head. We walked up onto the platform, keeping away from Lord Death in case he tried to do one of his famous Reaper Chops. "Stein here says you two are a pair of mixed souls, and Death Scythes at that." Lord Death said, clapping his giant white hands together. "I hereby nominate you both the official title, and Kage, you are now a two-star meister." He put his hands behind his back, humming.  
"Um… sir?" The red-haired man said. "Yes Death scythe?" he said, cocking his head in a pronounced fashion. "Aren't you going to test her like you said? You even brought Stein here for it." I gulped. Any sentence that involved _Stein_ and _test_, you knew you were in trouble. "Oh, I almost forgot." Lord Death spun in a circle, and pointed at me. "Stein is going to test you to see if you have the potential to be a three-star meister." I immediately lunged out of the way as Stein hit the ground beside me with a Soul Force attack.

"Excellent reflexes." Lord Death said, peering at me. Stein shifted position and I blocked his kick. "I may need to remind you, but in this test you get no help from your weapon. " Lord Death said, laying a hand on Akuma's shoulder. He nodded stiffly, and I saw the message in his eyes. No help from our special connection either. Stein tried to hit me with a soul force, and I grabbed his wrist, swinging him off the platform and into the grove of crosses off the main path.

"A thorough understanding of the martial arts." Death scythe commented, watching my stance. Stein lunged at me again, and I backed up. "I think we need to step it up." He said, starting to grin like a maniac. He held out his hand and Death Scythe transformed. He swung at me and I blocked with my hands on the intersection of his blade and handle. He started moving wildly, and I jumped up and did a handstand on his shoulders, vaulting over his swing. "You flips won't help you." He said, turning as I landed and swinging for my head.

I caught the scythe again, its blade a few inches from my head, and he strained to bring it down. I fought back, knowing there was only one way I could end this. "Soul Link Snap!" I yelled, starting to resonate. But not with my brother. Death Scythe's stunned face appeared on the blade as I he felt me resonate with him. I resonated higher and higher, knowing this was going to be close. I felt something give, and shoved the power from my resonance at that weak point. It broke, and Death Scythe, Stein, and I were blown apart.

Stein and Death Scythe looked stunned, and I grinned at them as I sat up. They both looked at me, but it was Lord Death that broke the silence. "What on Earth did you do?" I stood up, wobbling a little. "I forced a resonance with Death Scythe, sir. I resonated past his or Stein's limit, and the results are that neither of them can resonate now, nor even use each other. Also the usual damage from resonating with a weapon that isn't yours."

Stein rubbed the back of his head. "Is that what always happens?" I shook my head. "It's either that, or both of you gain a boost of power at my expense. It's a final solution move. Also, I probably won't be able to do it again to you, since you'll be ready for it." Lord Death clapped. "Well, I'm impressed. Kage, you are now a three-star meister. I ran my hand through my hair. "Wow." He continued cheerfully. "But you'll stay in Class Crescent Moon, since you need the book learning."

We bowed respectfully and left the room. "I honestly thought it would last longer." Akuma admitted to me as we walked back to class. I shrugged. "I wanted to get this. We're like the cream of the crop now." I high fived him. "Death Scythes and three-stars forever." He said, grinning. Maka turned the corner in front of us, and looked surprised. "Oh hey you two. What did Lord Death want?" I shrugged.

"Nothing much. You looking for something?" She nodded. "Actually, I was looking for you. We're having a party at me and Soul's to celebrate a new school year. Want to come?" I nodded. "Yeah, sure. When is it?" She smiled at me encouragingly "Tonight." I gave her a lazy thumbs up. "Yay. See you then." We walked back to class, Death Scythes and a three-star.

_**Next one is coming up. I can't believe the restraint it took not to work on this when I was doing my Hellsing. R, R, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien! **_


	3. 48 hours?

_**More Soul eater, yay! All shall worship at its feet. I do not own Nightmare before Xmas or its characters and their names in any way shape or form!**_

_Kage's POV:_

We had just gotten to Maka's apartment block when I remembered something. _"Won't they be a bit jealous we've been here all of 48 hours, and have already progressed to the top of the pecking order?" _I asked_."Hopefully not."_Akuma answered. He knocked on her door, and Kid opened it for us. He suddenly froze, and I flinched, expecting a shriek about our identity. "If you just cut your hair, you two would be perfectly symmetrical!" he said, pointing at me. "Freak say what?" I said, tilting my head. He shrieked again. "You ruined it!"

Liz called from the apartment. "Kid, give it a rest." We both stepped in, around Kid. Liz, Patty, Maka, and Soul were sitting on the couches, looked chilled out and relaxed. "Now we just have to wait for Blackstar and Tsubaki to show up!" said Patty, bouncing up and down on her spot on the couch. I rubbed the back of my head as I sat down. "About him…" The door fell off its hinges and I heard a voice saying "THE GREAT BLASKSTAR HAS ARRIVED, FEAR NOT! FOR I AM PERFECTLY INTACT AFTER MY FIGHT THIS MORING!" I heard a voice say behind him "Blackstar, you broke the door down again, that's not polite."

The blue-haired jerk walked in, and spotted me. "YOU!" he yelled, pointing at me. I gave him the live long and prosper sign. " 'Sup freak." Everyone was staring at me. "You know each other?" Soul asked, scratching his head. "Know is such a strong word…" I said, rubbing the back of my neck. Tsubaki, his partner I guessed, peered around him. "Oh hello, I didn't catch your name, I was busy carrying him in. Who are you?" Maka was the first one to recover her voice.

"You were the ones to beat Blackstar up?!" I sighed. "Not really, Akuma just watched. I'm Kage." I said, holding my hand out toward her. She smiled. "Tsubaki." She gently took my hand and shook it. Blackstar was standing there, mouth working as he tried to express his indignation. "HOW DARE YOU JUST IGNORE ME, ME! THE GREAT BLACKSTAR!" He burst out, and I sighed. I walked over to him and held out my hand, allowing crackles of Soul Force lightning to play around my fingers. "I played very nice, and I didn't even use my weapon." I said my voice echoing around the suddenly quiet room. "You are the one making a big fuss out of this. I'll make you a deal. You shut up about it, and I won't hit you with this so hard you'll think the blows I gave you this morning were love taps."

He swallowed. "Um, yeah, sure. Whatever you say." He said, backing away. I went back to my spot and sat down. "Awkward silence, commencing." Said Akuma from his spot on the floor. Everyone laughed a little, and started asking questions. Maka said "Something's been bothering me, how were you able to beat Blackstar?" I shrugged. "We've been dodging Kishins since we were about six years old. A cocky meister is nothing compared to that." Liz looked confused. "Didn't your family help?" We both winced. "They were the ones sending Kishins after us." Akuma said quietly.

Everyone looked uncomfortable and changed the subject. "I heard the teachers saying that someone had almost beaten Justin Law's record." Said Maka, looking at her mug of hot chocolate. Blackstar laughed. "Whoever they are, they better stay away from Death City, because I'll stomp them into paste!" I coughed. "Umm, yeah sure, whatever you say." Akuma snickered. "Cat got your tongue big sis?" I glared at him. "You were the one who insisted on waiting an extra month." I said sullenly. He grinned. "But I wanted to be the second youngest; after all, what kind of boast is that? You're the meister; you should have stuffed it down my throat."

Everyone was staring at us again. "Anything else?" Soul asked sarcastically. I rubbed the back of my neck again. "Well, I'm err, that is to say, this afternoon, umm…" Akuma smirked. "She's a three-star meister and a Death Scythe too, 'cause she ate all the Kishin souls as well." I blushed. "Shut up." I muttered, kicking at him. Everyone was staring at me even more now. "Wow." Said Maka softly. I waved my hands frantically at her. "Hey, it's not that big a deal, Kishins attacked us almost every day when we were younger, and eating the souls was just another step."

Any further questions were halted by an explosion coming from our apartment. We all fell to the ground and I said calmly "Damn, took them long enough. Akuma, write that down. We have now officially lived 48 hours without being attacked by someone." The others were staring at us again. "This is _normal_ for you!?" Liz shrieked. I rubbed the back of my head, getting to my feet. "Umm, yeah, pretty much. But 48 hours is the longest between attacks. New record!" Akuma said cheerfully, heading out the door. I waved a casual hand and them. "Chillax, we got this." I said, running out the door after him.

After I skidded to a stop in the gaping crater, which used to be our rooms, we started looking for the Kishin who caused this. Imagine my surprise when… "Well, well, who is this?" a witch rose up on a broom from behind my field of vision. "You damn idiot!" I spat, catching Akuma. "Who blows up someplace when they aren't sure anyone's there?" She grinned, starting to move her hands in a magical sign. "I'll take your advice, but you won't be there to give any more!" she said, activating some kind of spell. Tiny flocks of sparrows tore themselves from the walls and swarmed us. They scratched and pecked at my arms, and I laughed. "Birds, that's the best you can do?"

I launched myself at her, ignoring the sparrows, which flocked under me like a single being, hurling one of Akuma's swords at her. It thudded into her shoulder and she dropped from her broom, shrieking. I landed next to her, grabbing the front of her shirt and pulling her face next to mine. I trailed Akuma's other sword across her neck, not dropping eye contact. "If Jack wants to kill us-" I said quietly "-he can come himself. You go tell him that." I dropped her, letting her scurry away just as the meisters showed up. "What the hell happened here?" said Soul, seeing our walls completely torn up from the sparrow-witch's attack.

I shrugged casually. "Witch this time. They always over think a problem, and then over-shoot the solution. No big deal." I heard a slight noise behind me. "They also-" I swung around, stabbing Akuma straight through the witch's middle. "-have a nasty habit of coming back for revenge." She choked, dissolving into a purple soul, floating alone in the shattered remnants of our home. "You let her go the first time? Why?" asked Blackstar, who was actually paying attention. Akuma, who had flashed back to human form, answered for me. "We only kill someone when we can't help it, or if they deserve to die. If it's a weak enemy, we let them crawl away, even if they usually try again, we've given them a chance to live." They all nodded doubtfully.

I forced a laugh. "Well, we need to go to the DWMA if we're going to sleep tonight! C'mon Akuma." We headed off into the night, saying goodbye to the others. They all looked at us untrustingly, except for Kid, who looked concerned, and inside I winced. Regaining what little trust they had in us was not going to be easy. About halfway there, I detected a familiar presence. Whirling, I caught Akuma's swords and faced the shadow towering above me. "What do you want?" I said, making an effort to control the hatred in my voice. The shadow said nothing, swaying back and forth above my head. It looked a little bit like Lord Death, but black all over, and instead of a projection with a mask, he just had a pumpkin-shaped head. No white gloves for him either, just trademark inky blackness.

_Jack is coming._ I snorted. "That's nothing new. Your… what's the polite term? Host? Has been coming after us for years." I could feel his displeasure in the air. _He wants something else this time. I want to warn you, because despite the fact you are banished, you are still both part of the clan._ I felt the old bitterness rise up in my heart. "We don't owe him or the clan _anything_ if that's what you're getting at." He shook his massive head, looking somber. _We have been purged. A powerful witch and her creation stormed Halloween and killed them all. Only you, Jack, the three witchmeisters, and some scattered others are still alive, because you were all away._ I folded my arms, still not buying anything.

"And why was he away so very conveniently? We both know he's had dealings with witches in the past." I think, maybe, he was actually moved to a sigh. _You know he did not arrange it. Less power for him if the clan dies, which is what I'm getting to. He will lift your banishment, he has to. The clan needs more members._ I waved a tired hand. "Thanks for the warning, but we want nothing to do with the clan any more. Please, go away." Jack sighed again. _Despite, or perhaps because of, your power I worry for you. You know what he will try to do if you say no._

I watched him fade away, leaving nothing but bad memories and fleeting shadows in his wake. Jack, the Pumpkin King, was still as puzzling as ever. Still, I didn't hate him half so much as the other Jack. Oh, wait, that might be confusing. Ok, so Jack was our clan spirit. Like, head of the clan spirit. The _real_ important one. His full title was Skeleton Jack, the Pumpkin King, but he was usually Pumpkin King, or even, usually informally, just Jack. The _other _Jack, he was an entirely different kettle of fish. See, he was head of the clan. Every clan leader is called Jack, it's a formality thing. Anyway, Jack was the physical host for the Pumpkin King, and he usually was just called Jack, or in formal circumstances Skeleton Jack. He was the one we hated. Skeleton Jack was the one who ruined our lives.

I won't go into all the reasons, but they were all damn good ones. _For instance…_ I clutched my shoulder, feeling my scar throb, reminding me of why Jack was never to be forgiven. Never to be forgotten. Akuma patted my arm sympathetically. "Don't tell me you know how I feel." I said through clenched teeth. "We both know you have no idea." He smirked. In many ways we were exactly alike. The height, the build, our eye and hair color. We even had freckles and other marks in exactly the same place too. The only difference was our gender and, well…the obvious. A burn mark on my shoulder, the exact shape of our clan's symbol. A brand telling the world exactly what I was.

My brother didn't have this mark. Why? We both don't know. Perhaps it was too much bother for them to mark a corpse. Perhaps they were too busy holding me down. Perhaps Jack had been satisfied that the important one would never forget the lesson he wanted to teach me. Perhaps the branding iron they used on me was so old it broke when I swung it into my guard's head. Perhaps the mob had beaten him up to the point it wouldn't take on his cut and bruised skin. But he never had the pain of being branded at age six.

_**Tiny violin sounds, and a snippet of their illicit past. (Look it up) Don't worry, I'll introduce Jack soon.**_ _**Just saying, I'll usually refer to the human Jack as Jack, and the spirit as the Pumpkin King. It simplifies things. For those of you wondering about the Demonmeister and suchlike, don't worry, all shall be explained soon/eventually. I make no promises, mainly because I have no idea when I'll get around to things. (This was based off a Pain AMV, I think) Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien! **_


	4. Revelation

_**On we go, still no before chapter info, sorry. READ THE STORY ALREADY. (Based off a When you're evil AMV, this time I'm almost sure of it) Also, whoever's in charge of gambling hates me. My sister said I could stop doing the based off a song thing, if I agreed to do Kidxoc. Naturally, I refused since I hate romance. So we flipped for it, and now do I not only have to base chapters off AMVs, I have to do more romance! WHY!? XO**_

_Lord Death's POV:_

I scratched my head as Spirit hefted the book he had found. "You say this was all that was moved?" I asked, puzzled. Stein answered for him. "The library was untouched. This was left behind." Spirit struggled with the heavy book, which was almost as big as he was. Stein tapped the cover. "There was a sticky note attached to the front, which I have here." He cleared his throat, ignoring Spirit's struggles next to him. _"We are here if you know where to look. I took a look through your library, and decided that you needed a helping hand. After all, we don't die easily. We're waiting. Come find us, if you can. Find us before Jack does. –N.Q. & D.K."_

I looked at the title. "_Nightstalker Customs, a Legend Told Anew._ So they are real after all? Stein, what does your research tell you about them?" He pushed his glasses up. "The Nightstalkers are a supposed clan of weapon-meisters, but they a reportedly different from the average meister. Their existence is cloaked in myth, and several people doubt their existence at all. They are supposedly capable of being weapon, witch and meister all in one. They can use magic and resonate, equally. Not very many concrete things are known about them, except they are expert assassins and will fight because they enjoy killing, not just for pay."

I flicked a finger at the book, which was wobbling a little as Spirit tried to hold it up. "So this book contains concrete evidence?" he nodded. "One page of that book can tell you more than all the research of centuries." I opened it, looking at the hand-written letters. It was certainly an eye-opener. _"This book is an accumulation of our talents, for our later generations. It is sacred, never to be shown to an outclan person, and never to be read aloud. The DWMA is cracking down on the witches, and we, as Kishins, need to fade into myth and legend. Let the Reaper think he has rid the world of our kind, as we watch from the shadows, waiting for our chance."_

I flicked to a different page, noting the handwriting had changed. _"The Kishin Asura has been defeated, and the two new demons bound into our bloodline. We have successfully disappeared, and the meisters' guard has dropped. We are once again free to mingle with the witches, whose numbers have been decimated by both DWMA and the Kishin. Many have joined the clan, and they show promise, although some accuse us of heresy. If only they knew… but it is of no consequence. Recent trainees have shown the powers we have planned for, and things are moving nicely."_

Stein, who was reading over my shoulder, coughed politely. I looked at him. "They certainly seem to be hostile towards the DWMA." He said, making a face. I turned back to the book, flicking to another, more recent page. _"We have successfully mastered the control of the demons, although sometimes they control their hosts, we remain in charge. I myself have bound one into me, and its power is beyond belief. In future, I wish this for all the clan, so that they may kill all our enemies and feast on their souls. As I write, I realized this may become a way of life for us…"_

I flipped to the last page with writing, which was about halfway through the book and saw one single entry, in a different hand than all the others. _"How right my ancestors were, when they planned for this! As I have read through their entries, I see in myself what they hoped for. As the clan leader, I have far surpassed the expectations of our forefathers and mothers. The power is exhilarating. How I pity the Kishin, and the meisters scrabbling for power, when I was born into it! Shadows are mine to command, I can summon weapons, resonate with no partner, the list is endless. I wonder if the souls I have eaten have anything to do with my weakness, as the two heretics are much more powerful than me."_

_ "But, I am powerful nonetheless. The witches respect me, and the DWMA, Lord Death, if they knew about me, would tremble in fear. How ironic! I have none of the Eight Warriors inside me, least of all the one of Fear. The Great Old One of Anger is lost to me as well, being locked within the male heretic. The female has the Fear, and best of all, they are at the DWMA! I can only imagine the reaction when the Reaper unmasks them. Sadly, recent witch activity has led me to believe they will make a move on our hometown. A snake witch in particular is being very aggressive. We will see how things go, and I will review the other pages, seeing the powers that we may employ against her."_

I looked back and forth in the book, but that was the last entry. "Where are those? Maybe some kind of invisible ink on the other pages, what do you think Stein?" He peered at the blank pages, which occupied about half of the enormous book. "Could be. We'll need some heat if it's a simple ink, and I'll have to run some tests." He waved one of his matches at the page, but nothing happened. "So more tests then." He closed and locked the book with the key we had found. "C'mon Spirit, let's get this to my lab." He walked away, with poor Death Scythe struggling behind him, until he fell over, the book crushing him to the ground. It popped open and fell away, the pages dancing back and forth.

"Not a very good lock, is it?" I said, picking the book back up. Then I looked closer. "Stein, come here." I showed him the first page of the book, which was now empty. He skimmed the other pages, stopping when he came halfway. "Well, this is ingenious. Turn the key once and the pages disappear, and the opposite half shows." The part of the book, which once held nothing at all, was now filled with cramped handwriting, and diagrams. The part we were reading before had disappeared, leaving blank pages in its place. I looked curiously at the first page. "Song Resonance?" We both leaned in to read.

_ "This is one of the many techniques opened to us alone; the Song Resonance is used when facing powerful opponents. This allows us to unlock all of our collective power at once, as well as resonating with a weapon or collection of weapon-meisters. It is similar to the DWMA technique of Chain Resonance, except witches and indeed any creature with a soul may be included in this form. It is obviously more powerful in a group, especially if Jack is included. In several cases, the Demonmeisters have unlocked their spirits for a limited time. This is recommended for use only against particularly stubborn or numerous opponents, as the power released can be seen by the DWMA meisters with Soul Perception at very far distances."_

I stared at the book page. "What are these Demonmeisters we keep hearing about?" I flicked back to what seemed like a table of contents, and then back to the necessary page. _"Demonmeisters are the epitome of our magical research. When the Kishin fell, four hundred years ago, we bound several Kishin like him into our bloodline, much like Ragnarok, the Demon Sword. Three have remained alive, although they have sometimes referenced their "host of servants", they do not seem to summon them into the mortal world, and none have been reported by their hosts, if they had any. In descending order of power they are:_

_Skeleton Jack, the Pumpkin King- His full power has never been shown, although it is clearly established he is at least as strong as the Grim Reaper and Asura. He appears in the clan leader without exception, and does not bond his soul with any other. He normally takes the appearance of a shadow, with a pumpkin shaped head. Powers include a severely wounding Soul Force, shadow control, summoning of lesser demons, and magic._

_The Nightmare Queen- Powerful witch-demon, of unknown strength. Appears to defer to the Pumpkin King, so it is theorized she is weaker. This theory is sometimes argued, as she seems to have a greater range of power and more room to use it. Seems to seek out hosts that are similar in appearance to her original form, the reasons for this are unknown. Usually manifests as a young girl with blond hair, and her eyes are the typical black-red. She seems to have a rivalry with her brother, but they sometimes work together. They are both notorious for taking over their hosts' bodies and working for their own ends. Her reported powers are shape-shifting, shadow manipulation, which is far exceeding that of the Pumpkin King, magic, weapon-witch form, and appears to be able to infiltrate people's dreams for her own ends, as well as using physiological warfare to terrify her opponents. These last two are the reason for her title, as her true name is not known._

_The Demon King- He is the Nightmare Queen's brother, but seems to have a lesser extent of power. He shares much of her powers, but is prone to fits of violence, whereas she is calm and collected at all times. He takes on the semblance of a young boy with blond hair, showing his resemblance to his sister as clearly as possible. His hosts often fly into a berserker rage when fighting, and this is attributed to his power as a Kishin. Much as the Kishin Asura breathed madness, these two are reported to leak Terror and Anger, respectively. This is a point to the theory that, although they defer to the Pumpkin King, they are stronger, as he does not have any strong emotions to speak of. His powers are an exceptional weapon form, Soul possession, and all the techniques of his sister, only to a lesser extent._

_ Both the Demon King and the Nightmare Queen have referenced to the fact they can create familiars out of shadow, but they have never done so. They also have reportedly asked for a "better host" although when questioned will not answer. They have been recently bound for safe keeping, and will not be coming out for many years. If they got free, it would spell disaster for us in hiding. So we watch them, and wait. With their disappearance the clan has gotten weaker, but as we know, far better to be too weak than too strong."_

_Kage's POV:_

_You shouldn't have done that!_ Queenie raged in my mind, sounding very unhappy. _Now the Reaper will know more about us than ever before! Why can't you just swallow your stubbornness and join him! _I saw my shadow writhing on the ground behind me, gradually taking on the semblance of a person with glowing red eyes. Only they were on the wall, instead of the ground. _I don't want to die._ I rolled my eyes. "You're already dead. Now pipe down. I'm in charge here, after all." She subsided, and my shadow drifted back to its normal proportions. _You won't be able to stand against both the Reaper and Jack. You will regret showing them the book._

"What could I have done?" I asked tartly. "Like it or not, Jack's back, and how long do you think the DWMA will last against an enemy they know nothing about? Don't forget, this is Jack we're talking about. He'll have them eating out of his hand within a week if we're not careful. Sneaker blighter." She sighed. _You just want them to accept you. Here is the best chance you have of it. Oh wait, I forgot, you will never fit in anywhere but home, because you're a Nightstalker, and you kill innocent people for fun. You're a freak, a witch, a Kishin, a Demonmeister, an outcast. That's all you'll ever be._

"Shut up!" I roared, punching the wall with my fist, crushing the plaster. "You will never understand what my life is like! I am not a-" I swallowed nervously before continuing in a lower, calmer tone. "I am not a freak. I am not a Kishin. I am not a witch. And, _because of you_, I'm not a Nightstalker anymore either. And I will never be a Demonmeister. You can't make me." She shifted my shadow slightly. _You aren't denying you're an outcast?_ I glared at the wall. "We both know I am." I fell into the mantra, ingrained in my head, even after all these years. "We hunt through the shadows, and walk in darkness. We stalk our prey through deepest night, killing on a whim. We are the fear that keeps you awake at night, the shadows on the wall, the monsters they become. We are Nightstalker."

I dropped the awe-inspiring tone. "And we are never, ever, really and truly in one spot at once. We're shadows in every sense of the word. Outcasts." Yes, I was bitter. But I had a right to be bitter. For Nightstalker, you don't have to deal with wanting more power like Meisters, Weapons, humans, and Witches. We have more raw power in our bodies than Death Scythes. Channeling and controlling that power, however, was a different matter entirely. Nobody, least of all the Nightstalker, is perfect. What we have to deal with, instead of hunger for power, is never being anything but hated. Anywhere we went; we were and are treated with suspicion and at the worst, angry mobs. Also, one thing that is so abnormal and strange for us, we don't even want it all that much anymore.

A normal soul. Sure, I could do magic and transform into a weapon. Yes, I can summon a demon as powerful as or more powerful than Lord Death. But, that comes at a heavy price. Can I hang out in a normal place with normal people? No, I get attacked or I overshoot my power when I'm trying to fit in. Can I hang out with the witches? No, they all distrust me because I'm part weapon-meister, and I just joined the DWMA. Can I talk to and hang out with the people here? Also a no, because what if they found out I was part witch, much less Nightstalker? Can I go back home? Double no, Jack's been trying to kill me since age 6, and everyone I knew there was dead. The joys of being a Nightstalker.

And unlike the meisters, I can't just whip out Queenie whenever I feel like it. Why? Oh yeah, she demands at least one soul per usage, and doesn't care if it's mine. So I have to defeat and kill all my opponents when I use her, or I'm dead. And that's just if I use her _right_. Wrong? My entire Soul Wavelength gets sucked into her little self-world, and I spend the rest of eternity a babbling idiot. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and looked up, expecting to see Akuma, but stared into Kid's yellow-gold eyes. "Are you alright?" he asked, looking concerned. "Umm…" I said, feeling like my entire system was suddenly shot. What the hell was wrong with me!?

His eyes traveled to the medical ward, which was directly behind me. "Dr. Medusa give you bad news?" I shook my head dumbly. "No." _Oh god, what if he puts two and two together, and we have to leave!_ "Umm, I mean, it's just that me and Akuma might have to do an extracurricular assignment on our "double-soul", and it really sucks when I have to show off." Queenie's voice, thankfully silent until now, curled in my head. _Nice excuse, even I might believe it. Now kill him, we're alone, everyone is in the Death Room, it will be quick and painful. For him._ I shook my head again, thinking. _No. How would we look if I killed Lord Death's son? Being on the run from Jack is enough._ Kid was talking again, but I wasn't paying attention.

"Hey! Kage, are you alright?" I blinked, locking eyes with him again. "Yeah, why?" He looked concerned. "You spaced out for a second, and kept shaking your head. Are you sure you're fine?" I nodded. "Just a bit of a headache. I'll be fine." He gently grabbed my arm, and despite my better intentions, Queenie almost got the best of me. "Well, I have to be careful, and besides, everyone needs a checkup from Dr. Medusa during enrollment, it's mandatory." He tugged me into her office, me mentally shouting at Queenie. _Shut up shut up shut up shut up!_ She ignored me, continually saying her bit. _Kill him kill him kill him kill him!_ He pushed me down in a chair, then went to fetch Dr. Medusa. He bowed slightly to me and left as the doctor came in.

Instantly he was forgotten. I shoot upright, glaring at her with barely contained hatred. "YOU." I hissed, clenching my fists. "Something wrong?" she asked sweetly, narrowing her eyes. "Nothing wrong." I said, keeping my voice low. "Just a witch in the middle of the DWMA with Nightstalker blood on her hands." She looked grudgingly impressed. "How did you see past my Soul Protect?" I smirked slightly. "I didn't. We keep tabs on those who killed our kind, and the only one still alive is a snake witch who murdered almost the entire clan. Your face is in our minds, your soul in our hearts. We will always find you, no matter where you run." She laughed, and I took a deep breath, trying to control myself.

"Why aren't you telling the Reaper?" She suddenly said venomously, a shadowy shank curling out of her mouth. I let the shadows in the room peel of the floor, twining around me like affectionate cats. "I have no reason to. I'll make you a deal. You know who and what I am. I know who and what you are. We both agree not to reveal each other in any way, shape, or form, and we don't have to try and fight it out on the Reaper's turf." She looked startled. "You haven't released your Soul Protect, how are you able to do magic!?" she said, clenching her fists. I grinned at her. "I don't need to hide myself using normal Soul Protects. Nightstalker methods work just fine."

I could see her thinking through all she had heard of Nightstalkers, and trying to fit me into that equation. "Lord Death will be shocked to hear that a Great Old One is in his school." She said slyly, and I blinked. "They've gone Kishin." I said bluntly, turning away from her. "They aren't Great Old Ones anymore." She chuckled. "Just like Kishin Asura." I froze. "Exactly like." I forced myself to say, hiding the tremble in my voice. I walked out the door quickly, not wanting to have anything more to do with her. _Oh God, what if she manages to resurrect him? But I can't tell Lord Death, I made a deal! What do I do!?_ Queenie was thoughtfully silent. _Well?_ I asked her savagely, wanting to hear her opinion on the matter. She chuckled, and for a moment my shadow curled over my head, taking on human-like proportions. _Asura was the first of us to fall into darkness. I'll enjoy meeting him again._

I growled, waving her away. _I thought you hated his guts._ She subsided, letting my shadow go back to normal. _I do. Since Lord Death wasn't strong enough to kill him-_ I felt her surge, her power temporarily bursting out of my physical from. All the shadows cast in the hallway writhed, sliding towards me before fading back to normal. _– I guess I have to finish the job._

_**Dun, dun, dadum. In case none of you people noticed in the manga/anime, the Great Old Ones were the seven other warriors, besides Lord Death, that were a team way back when. Asura and Eibon were in that category as well. They're like gods, only they bring some kind of madness through such-and-so. Listed, they are:**_

_**Lord Death, Madness through Order.**_

_**Eibon, Madness through Knowledge.**_

_**Asura, Madness through Terror (fear).**_

_**The Black Mass: (this is in the manga only) Madness through Power.**_

_**Vajra: Unknown, Asura's weapon.**_

_**Unknown, Representing Madness through Rage (thought to be Excalibur)**_

_**The rest are unknown as of right now. I picked Asura's and the Rage one for my story, but I'm just saying Asura is like Madness through Madness. The Nightmare Queen gets Fear, and her brother gets Rage. Picture becoming clear? Okay then. Review, request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien!**_


	5. Demon, sword and otherwise

_**Alright, nobody's reviewing, so I'm getting you guys a carrot. TWO CHAPTER'S IN ONE DAY PEOPLE! I'm sticking to the plotline of the anime for this, FYI. Right now they're about in the middle of when Kid gets into the DWMA, and this chapter is the episode when they meet Crona. And, I know this is a constant subject of debate, but in my humble opinion Crona's a guy. I mean, both in the manga and the anime, he says "I can't deal with girls". Well, if you want to be exact, direct quote from books (manga): "…I'm…no good at talking to girls…*blush*" Anime: "I'm uh; I'm not very good at talking to girls." So yeah, He's a boy. (This may have been the enemy inside AMV)**_

_Death the Kid's POV:_

"You wanted to ask me something father?" I said, standing in front of him. He nodded, swaying to and fro to a rhythm only he seemed to be able to hear. "Oh Yes! I was wondering, you sat with the two new kids at lunch, yes?" He said, bending down to look at me. "Yes…" I said slowly, wondering what he was talking about. "Did they seem odd to you?" he said suddenly, looking concerned. I flushed. For some reason this question caught me off guard, and I remembered Kage's defensiveness. "Umm… not really…" I blushed deeper. _Why is this so hard to answer?_ I took a deep breath. "They seem quiet, a bit reclusive, but not _strange_. Kage seems to be a bit… on guard." Father rubbed the space under his mask.

"Really? Well, I hate to dump this on you, but there seems to be several spies in our school. We got this from the library, after a disturbance was reported." He pointed to the largest book I had ever seen, and held out a sticky note for me to read. I frowned, looking it over. "So you think there are Nightstalker in the school?" I asked skeptically. He shrugged, grabbing the note back and placing it on the book. "I don't know. That's what I need you to help me with. I hate to say this, but right now those two are our prime suspects. They're new, reclusive, and don't seem to want to socialize with other people here." I blinked, feeling slightly guilty that I had told him about their apparent shyness. "So you want me to spy on them?" I asked, trying not to sound angry.

"No! Not at all. Just observe them, watch for anything odd. I'm counting on you." He put a hand on my shoulder, and I bowed, walking back outside. _Why didn't I tell him about finding Kage in the hall?_ When I looked back, I realized she and her brother really would be the most likely subjects. I straightened my shoulders. _I'll just ask her._ I walked down to the lower levels, shivering as the air got colder and colder._ How do they sleep down here?_ I found the hallway her door was on, but finding which room was hers would have been slightly harder, but I heard a sob coming from a door in the middle. I stepped forward, intending to call out and ask what was wrong, but then her voice cut through the silence. "Leave me alone!"

I jerked to a stop, frowning in confusion. I didn't hear anything, but apparently something answered her. Her voice was choppy, like she had been crying. "S-shut up. G-go a-_away_!" I walked forward until I was right next to her door. She seemed so much younger… but then I remembered she was my age, maybe a little younger, despite the fact she talked and acted much older. I knocked on the door, calling out softly "Kage? Are you alright in there?" I heard her choke, then the door slowly swung open. I blinked. Her jacket was off, and she was wearing a black tank top. I tried very hard not to take too long a look at her well-toned arms, but then I noticed a scar on her left shoulder. Unconsciously, I reached out, trying to touch it. She yanked back like I was on fire, and said harshly "Don't touch that!"

I immediately retracted my hand, flushing. "I- sorry." I said, avoiding her hostile glare. "It's very interesting." It _was_ very interesting, more of a brand than a scar, in the shape of a moon with a shadowy shape coiling around it. Now that I looked at it fully, it made my skin crawl. Something about that scar was _not right_. It radiated danger and evil. I shook my head, trying to ignore such odd thoughts. She laughed bitterly, wrapping her hand around it and shielding it from sight. "Interesting is the least of its qualities. Did you want something?" I blinked, shaken out of my musings. "Oh, um, yes. I know you traveled a lot before you came here, did you ever hear of the Nightstalkers?" She tensed, fingernails digging into the skin around her scar. We were both silent for a moment, and I saw she was visibly shaken. She looked up into my eyes, and I was surprised to see a deep sadness in them, sadness and confusion.

"Do not." She said clearly, voice shaking with anger, turning around. "I repeat, _do not _mention that name to me again." I backed away, holding my hands up defensively. "I'm sorry, but father thinks there are spies here and-" she whipped back around, eyes blazing. "_I don't care_ what your father thinks! I've lost _everything_ I ever had and ever wanted to them." I felt a trace of confusion. "But you still have your brother-" She laughed sadly, cutting me off again. "Do I? Or do I have what's left?" I was feeling more and more out of my depth with every sentence. "Look, I need to tell my father what's going on, and if what you're telling me is-" She flinched, her face turning white.

She walked away, heading for her bed. "Go. Go tell him." She said, defeat clear in her tone and posture. "Tell him and see how fast it is before I'm hauled out of here and dumped in the desert." She sat down on the bed, turning so she was facing the corner it made, showing her back to the world. "Kage?" I said quietly, trying to bring some element of normalcy back into our conversation. She didn't respond. "Kage, I won't tell my father." She shifted, looking at my face, and I felt a shock to see a tear slide down her face. I took a deep breath, trying to assert myself. "But I will need answers. I want the truth, but I need you to trust me." She smiled, and wiped the tear away. "I will. But can you trust me?"

_Kage's POV:_

I watched him leave, wondering if he was really not going to turn me in. My grip on my shoulder tightened, and I hissed. _How stupid was I, to let him see it?!_ I laughed, remembering what he had said. _Interesting. If you only knew…_ I looked out the window at the laughing moon. I leaned on the window sill, pressing my forehead against the glass. My eyes flicked back and forth, assessing the shadows in the alleyways below me. _Where is he?_ A flicker of movement, directly across from me. I stiffened, watching the shadows roil and bulge. A shape staggered out of thin air, and I let out my breath in a relieved sigh. He looked up, his normal eye color momentarily obscured by red and black. It reverted back to a light green, and I waved.

He jumped up to my window, and I let him in, hugging him as he fell onto my shoulder. "How was it?" I asked Akuma, feeling him trembling. "Bad." He rasped, exhaustion clear in his tone. I sighed. "I know you don't like it. Do you really think it's worth it?" He pulled away, anger highlighting his features. "How can you even ask that!? I'm all you have left, and you're all I have left. I will _not_ abandon you, not now, not ever." I nodded, biting my lip.

"But how long do you think we can do this? Before it was only once a year. Now it's every _month_. What will we do when it's every week? I can't keep that kind of spell open by myself forever." He sighed. "Get some sleep. This is us. We can do anything." He smiled at me and walked out. _I know we can do anything together._ I thought, watching him stagger a little from weariness. _But how long can we stay together? How long can I keep you here?_ I got up, and went to look at the slowly fading moon. _How long can I keep your soul in your body when you're dead?_

_Akuma's POV:_

As soon as I was out of sight I slid down to sit on the ground, leaning against the wall and panting as quietly as I could._ Damn you D.K._ He chuckled, temporarily rising up out of the ground next to me, as ghost-like as he always was. _What? You and your sister made a decision. That decision was neither the smart one nor the safe one. You are only just now discovering the consequences._ I glared at him, clutching my chest, trying to keep my soul where it belonged. _If I die, you go too._ His smirk grew. _You're already dead. The spell your sister preformed is the only thing keeping your body and soul together. Otherwise, this lump of flesh is all __**mine**__._ He poked my shoulder for emphasis.

But then he shrugged, drifting away. _But I like you kid. You've got spunk. Once a month? If it wasn't for me you'd be doing it every other day, and you know you wouldn't last long then._ I sighed, looking up at the ceiling._ Why?_ He chuckled, drifting down and sitting cross-legged next to me. _Why else? My sister's getting to clever for her own good. For now, I'm on your side in all this._ I glared at him. _That's just the point. You're a demon. You never act in anyone's interest but your own._ He grinned widely. _Valid point. But as far as I'm concerned, you __**are**__ me. You remind me of myself way back when, you know, the good old days when I had a body of my very own. We even look alike._

Not this again. Okay, so what if we looked so much alike we could easily be mistaken for each other on a dark night. Kage and I were like that too. Well, if she cut her hair shorter and got rid of her scar, but that was always covered anyway, right? _You don't know what she was up to when you were gone, do you?_ D.K. said casually, picking something out of his ear. _What!?_ I glared at him, willing him to tell me. He ignored me, inspecting his over-sharp nails for minute pieces of matter. _Tell me!_ I mentally shouted at him, and he allowed himself on tiny smirk. _What on earth would I know that you would want me to tell you?_ I was so incensed that I actually said it out loud. "What did she do when I was gone!" I almost shouted, then clamped my lips shut, guiltily looking at her door.

He stretched, very pleased with himself that he had gotten so high a reaction from me. _Oh, nothing much. Just popped in the library, left one of our most valuable and secret books behind on purpose, smashed in a wall, had a little chat with our school nurse, discovered she was a witch, and had several cozy little heart-to-heart talks with the Reaper's son._ He flashed me a wicked grin. _He's fallen hook line and sinker for her, poor boy. Are you going to go daddy-with-a-shotgun on him? I'll even pull out some of the shrapnel for you!_ I clenched my fist, trying very hard not to storm in Kage's room and demand answers.

_Demons lie._ I told myself, trying to calm down. _It's in their nature. They lie to make me angry and unbalanced. Be cool, be calm._ My thoughts were interrupted by a chokehold around my neck. D.K. hung on me, shouting. _Oh crap dude, demons lie!? I've been hanging out with them all my afterlife! Does this mean I'm never going to get back my favorite squeaky toy they borrowed a few years back!? Someone help me!_ I shoved him off, but due to his natural balance I only succeeded in getting his hands off my neck. _Ha-ha, very funny. I'm dying of laughter._ He held up his hand for a high five, grinning. _That's not the only thing you're dying of buddy._

I ignored him, finally energized enough to stagger back to my room, slam the door in his face, and collapse on my bed. He took the hint and dematerialized, vanishing into thin air. Now that I was alone, I had to admit Kage was right. Her spell wasn't holding me together like it was supposed to. _But what can we do?_ It had taken her so much energy to cast, and maintaining it took all of my witch's soul, as well as part of hers. _She can't reinforce the locks on it here, not without help._ I sighed, leaning my forehead against the cool stone. _Honestly? I think I only have a year, maybe more._

_Kage's POV:_

I winced. _It's not spying, I accidentally heard him. It's not spying, it's not spying._ I was in my meditative pose, legs crossed, hands palm upright on my knees. I was spread throughout the awareness of all the shadows in the DWMA, hearing everything, seeing everything. Akuma was sitting on his bed, face to the wall. Spirit and Stein were in Medusa's lab room, and Lord Death and Kid were in the Death Room, although I only had a blurry shot in there because of his protection. No one else was around, but I knew I was compelled to do this for a reason. Then I heard it, Stein's voice "_Oh yeah, one other thing… it seems the DemonSword has turned up…"_ My eyes snapped open, and my awareness contracted back into my body. _WHAT!?_

I quickly bent all my focus on a single shadow, one I was only just starting to become familiar with. _Stein would only say this if his daughter was involved… come on… show me your souls… _ My view contracted and spun, dancing from one shadow to another. _COME ON… where are you guys… Italy? Okay, that's better… in a church… just the two of them…_ My eyes snapped open. The DemonSword. Medusa. I stood up, yanking my jacket back on. _What are you __**doing**__?_ Queenie's voice echoed in my head. I shoved my boots back on, heading for the door. _What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going and kicking Medusa's-_ She cut me off. _ That crazy doctor and her father are already heading there. You'll just be in the way, and it'll raise the question of how you even knew._

I sighed, slumping down and pushing the door back closed. _I guess you're right, for once. _I took my boots off, and slid my jacket down and placed it on my bedtable. I covered myself with the blankets, sliding down into the infinity of sleep. When I woke up the next morning, the first thing I did was casually walk to the infirmary with Akuma. We didn't talk out loud, but I filled him in on what I saw. I didn't ask what he saw when he went to whatever the place that renewed him was. We both knew it was a sensitive topic. We saw Maka and Stein, talking about something. "Oh hey, where's Soul?" I said, feeling concerned. _She's fine, but if Soul was hurt…_

She bit her lip and looked away. Stein turned to us and said "Soul was attacked by the DemonSword. He was cut pretty bad, but he'll make it. You can go see him now." Maka immediately rushed past us, slamming the door open. I put my hands on my hips. "That's all?" I said pointedly, and he winced. "Some of the DemonSword's black blood got inside him. We don't know how it will affect him later." We nodded and bowed slightly. We walked in, and I saw the glitter of tears on Maka's face. I put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't think of any nonsense." I said firmly, and she looked at me, startled. I tried smiling at her, but I don't do that well. "He did that because he thought you needed the chance to get away. If he had even a smidgen more of time to think it through, he probably would have thrown you over his shoulder and run for it."

She giggled a little, and wiped the tears away. Blackstar burst in, and I mentally cringed. "SOUL, SOUL! ARE YOU OKAY!?" He banged Soul's head against the mattress, still yelling. "IT'S GOING TO BE ALRIGHT! BLACKSTAR IS HERE FOR YOU NOW!" He pried Soul's eyelids open, trying to get him to wake up. "OPEN YOUR EYES!" He went back to banging him around. "ONE LOOK AT MY BIG HANDSOME FACE AND YOU'LL BE CURED FOR SURE!" Maka screamed. "BLACKSTAR Noooooo!" She Maka-chopped his head and he fell on the extra bed, spurting blood.

"Sorry about that Maka." Tsubaki said with a sigh. A voice came from the threshold. "Oh my goodness, what happened to the door?" I glared at Medusa, who had on her fakey-angel face. She smiled at me. "From the looks of it things have been quiet lively here." She said, walking towards us. "Hi Dr. Medusa." Tsubaki and Maka said, bowing slightly. Blackstar suddenly sat up. "Are you here to see Soul?" She cringed. "Actually no. Can you get Maka's father off my leg?" We all looked down to see Spirit, being worshipful. I grimaced, and Maka did a huge Maka-chop on his head.

We left, not wanting to see any more. We walked out to the practice yard, full of trees and grass, overlooking Death City. I frowned, seeing a cat stride along one of the branches. "Blair?" I said incredulously, and she looked down, shocked. "Kage? Akuma? What are you two doing here?" She mewed, dropping down and transforming, thankfully fully clothed. I shrugged. "We're with the Meisters now. I was going to ask you the same thing." She grinned, hopping closer. "I live with Maka and Soul now! Have you met them?" I nodded "Yes, we have. How have things been in the witch's world?" She winced. "Not good. I actually came to ask for help, although with you two it should be easy!"

I sat down under a tree, Akuma doing the same. "We've got time. What's going on?" She puffed back into cat shape, hanging herself over the lower branches of our tree. "The witches are really tense. Medusa, the snake witch, you know her?" We both nodded. "She's up to something. Eruka Frog saw her sneaking out of the Grand High Witch's room." We both winced. "She's no good, that's for sure, but that's not enough to make someone with magic seek out the DWMA's help." Akuma said, looking down at his hands. Blair nodded. "That isn't all. You know the three witch-weapon-meisters? She's looking for them, and from what I heard she isn't going to be friendly when she finds them."

"Where are they!?" I said, getting up quickly. Blair looked sympathetic. "At the Grand Market, most likely. What are you going to do?" I clenched my fists. "Go get them. Our apartment's almost done, and we can construct some defenses for them. I'll go make excuses to Lord Death, you pack." I said to Akuma, before running back inside. Blair mewed after me. "You can't just run off blindly! Be careful!"

_Lord Death's POV:_

"You need to go help some friends in a tight spot, is that it?" I said, scratching my head. Kage stood in front of me, looking up expectantly. "Yes, they need our help, and they don't trust other people." She said confidently, already wanting to be off. I looked at Spirit. "What do you think?" He glared at her suspiciously. "Why do you need to do it now? And why alone?" she shuffled her feet, glaring back at him. "We go faster that way." I snapped my fingers. "That's it! I'll send Kid with you! Blackstar and Tsubaki are busy doing remedials, and Maka's partner is in the infirmary. Take him with you!" She whitened, and Spirit made a satisfied sound. "That'll work. Off you go." He said, and she bowed to both of us before running off.

_**This shall be interesting. More of both of the newcomer's pasts, and it's only scratching the surface! *evil laugh* Next we'll meet Lock, Shock, and Barrel! Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien!**_


	6. Lock, Shock, and Barrel

_**Sniffle, why is no one reviewing! You did stuff on my Hellsings, why not this! I'm not stating for sure about what AMVs the specific chapters were inspired by, because until chapter 7, I wasn't keeping definite check. Other than that, no before chapter info, just read the stupid thing already. (Inspired by the Run this town and Kidnap the sandy claws AMVs, I think)**_

_Kage's POV:_

I skidded to a stop outside the Death Room, and took a deep breath, then let it out. _DAMN IT ALL TO HELL! _ I clenched my fists. _I can't bring anyone else into this!_ Then I walked off, looking for Kid. He was by the mission wall, and I tapped his shoulder. He turned, then when he saw it was me, frowned. "It's a mission for us, from your father." I said before he could start interrogating me. "Meet me and Akuma at the entrance with Liz and Patty." I turned and ran away, heading for my brother's soul. "We have a problem." I said quietly, before telling him about Kid coming with us. He stared at me, appalled, but before he could say anything I heard a sound like jet engines and looked up to see Kid land right next to us. "Where are we going?" he asked, looking at us.

I cleared my throat. "Witch territory." I said, shouldering my backpack. He looked surprised. "Why?" Liz asked from his hand, flashing into view and looking at us suspicously. I avoided the glare. "Because we have some friends there that need our help." I said, already heading for the exit. Akuma flashed into his twin swords, and I slid them into their sheaths. Kid's eyes sparkled. "Perfect symmetry!" he said, clearly in awe. I raised my eyebrow. Patty and Liz sighed. "He's a little fixed on that." Liz said sympathetically. "He has breakdowns sometimes." I sighed, shaking my head. "Just follow me." I said, crouching down before launching myself into the night.

_Death the Kid's POV:_

She suddenly crouched down and leaped, clearing an impossible amount of distance before touching down on someone's roof. "Come on!" she yelled back at us, and I summoned my skateboard and took off after her. I kept my eyes trained on her back as she slowly exited Death City, landing with a thump in the desert before skimming off. I admired her grace, then way she had seemed to flit from building to building like a shadow, deadly, uncatchable, beautiful- Liz's voice cut into my mind. "_Kid, focus. Stop mooning after her and pay attention._" I blinked. "I am not mooning after her!" I yelped, feeling set upon. She rolled her eyes. "_Whatever._" Patty chimed in.

"_Kid and Kage, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-_"she sang, and I almost dropped her. "Shut up!" I hissed, not wanting Kage to hear this, even though she was several hundred feet below us. Suddenly I felt a soul in the air next to me. "What's going on?" Kage said, effortlessly leaping up to eye level. Her eye sparkled faintly in the moonlight, and she was grinning recklessly. I flushed slightly, hoping she didn't notice. "Nothing." I said, keeping my eyes straight ahead of me. She shrugged, landing in the sand below us before launching herself back up. "Because according to my mystical powers of observation, you're having an argument."

Liz appeared on her pistol. "Hey, who exactly are we going to help? I know you think they're your friends, but it's mostly witches and their servants over there in the Witch Territory." Kage nodded, landing again and pushing herself back up. "I know. But they are my friends. Just, when we meet, them, please don't be too hostile. They don't like how they were born either." I felt confused. "Wha-" She suddenly hissed, dropping back down, but not going anywhere. I swerved, dropping down next to her.

Her eyes were wide, and Akuma shifted back to human form. "Here that?" he said, looking over my shoulder. I turned, but didn't hear or see anything. She nodded. "The barrier's evaporating." She looked over my shoulder too. "Kid, hold onto us. Hand Liz or Patty over, but we all need to maintain contact for you to get through." I blinked, but then she urgently shouted "NOW!" I quickly handed Patty to Akuma, who linked hands with his sister. I grabbed her other hand, noticing that she was sweating slightly. She yanked me forward, and I stumbled, my vision suddenly obscured by lights and colors. I felt like I was being drowned, burned, beaten, and shocked with a powerful Soul force all at once, and yelped. It suddenly stopped, and I opened my eyes.

Where there was once empty desert, a small town with strange architecture was sprawled out in front of us. I gasped. Kage said in a satisfied tone of voice "Good, I was afraid it was still too strong to let you guys through." She handed me Patty, and I took her, too shocked by the impact to do anything else. "What the hell was that?" Liz said, gasping. Akuma said from Kage's other side "A barrier. It prevents weapon-meister souls from crossing the town borders." I took a deep breath, suspicions coming back. "But what about you two?" I said, moving into a slightly offensive position.

Kage smiled. "We were given clearance ages ago, on the condition we didn't lead the DWMA here." I flinched. "Isn't that what you just did?" I said, feeling guilty. She grinned. "Yes, but even if everyone there, and all the Death Scythes, tried to get in, you wouldn't be able to. Not unless the Head Witch here let you in." I blinked. "Oh." She started walking away, and I had to jog to keep up. She whispered to me as we walked along "You might want to hide your skull-thing. They aren't stupid, and just because I'm here doesn't mean they won't try something." I unclipped it, handing it to her and watching her stick it in her backpack.

"So what's with all the animal carvings?" Liz said, appearing on the gun and looking around. Now that she mentioned it, all the houses did have some kind of animal present in their decoration. On one corner we passed a house covered in a zebra print, with carved zebra heads sticking out above the windows and a zebra arch leading to the front door. Kage barely glanced at it, but I felt like standing there and gaping at the horrendous lack of symmetry. The one right next to it had butterfly wind chimes, butterfly weathervanes sticking out of the roof, and butterfly mosaics decorating the outside walls and sidewalk. "They're the animal familiars of a certain witch. It's the kind of magic the family that owns the house practices." Kage said, not glancing at any of them.

Akuma was behind us, openly staring. "It's okay to look." He said, pointing at the house he was looking at. "They consider it a complement. My sister's just too focused on the job. Normally she's all over the decorations." I glanced ahead, seeing the determined way she held herself. _Oh._ We kept walking, me occasionally exclaiming over some house owner's extreme lack of symmetry. A sound drifted down to us, a whistle with a strange tune to it. I didn't see the significance, but both Akuma and Kage stiffened. Kage jumped lightly onto a nearby roof, looking in the direction we were going. She hissed, then whistled a tune that sound a bit like the first, more of a continuation of it than a different signal. "What is she doing?" Patty said, looking awed.

She jumped back down. "C'mon. We need to hurry." She let Akuma transform before running off in the direction we heard the whistle. I ran after her, panting as she moved faster than anything I had ever seen. We skidded to a stop, and I saw a girl standing back-to-back with a larger boy, facing off what looked like a forest of arrows. They were standing in a crater, probably what used to be the town square. The girl turned, seeing us. "KAGE!" she screamed and the boy turned slightly. Kage didn't stop as she ran right into the forest of arrows, hacking into them like she was cutting wood. "A little help would be nice!" she shouted back at me as an arrow almost impaled her.

I blinked. "Oh yeah." I shot into the coiling mass, trying to drive it away. A hole was suddenly blasted in the arrows in front of me, and the girl rolled out. It closed behind her, and she staggered towards me, fear lighting up her features. The arrows were now so thick around Kage and the boy I couldn't see them at all. "Shock!" the girl yelled, and another hole was blasted, letting Kage stagger out, covered in cuts. She was leaning heavily on another boy, one I hadn't seen in the melee of arrows. The third and last boy slammed into the arrows, and they closed in. "Kid! Shoot it!" Kage shrieked, and I did as she said. I heard her call out "Let's go Soul Resonance!" before a wave of power almost swept me off my feet. I looked, seeing her bright blue soul pulsing, almost like a rhythm, with only one sword in her hand.

"GET YOUR FILTHY SNAKES OFF MY FRIEND!" she shouted, charging the ball of snake-arrows. She swung at them in an underhand chop. "Ultimate superskill of the swordmeister!" she yelled, Akuma glowing and elongating. "Witch style!" she said, smashing into the ball, tearing it apart like scrap paper. There was a bright burst of light, and this time I was hurled off my feet, smashing into a nearby building. I blinked, raising my head. Kage was standing in front of the boy, head bowed. Akuma was still glowing, but as I watched she tossed him up and he broke into the two different swords he usually was.

_Kage's POV:_

I caught Akuma, still on guard. Those snake-arrows were obviously Medusa's work, and I would bet my weapon's soul she was hanging around in some form or another. Barrel was on all fours on the ground, breathing hard. "How do you always manage to show up in the nick of time?" He said, grinning up at me. I shrugged casually. "It's a gift. You guys okay?" He nodded, then shook his head. "Define okay." I let Akuma transform, and watched him help Barrel to his feet. "Alive and staying that way?" He said, and Barrel winced. "Alive, yes. Staying that way, probably. But all right? Most definitely not." We walked over to Shock and Lock.

Shock's hair was all on end, proof he had been using his witch powers. Lock was disheveled, and her perfect nail polish was chipped. Barrel was covered in almost invisible cuts, like a paper cut en mass. Lock hugged me tightly, squealing "Oh my god, it's so nice to see you again! How's every little thing! Are the meisters giving you trouble? Who's this guy? Are you two dating?" I held up my hands to stop the flow of words. "Can it already 'Daggers. We're kinda _with_ the meisters now, so be careful what you say. This guy is Death the Kid, and no, he's not my boyfriend."

They all turned to look at Kid, eyes narrowing. Almost imperceptibly, his hands tightened on his guns, and Lock's hair started sparking faintly. Barrel's hands turned to wood, and Lock had a suspicously glittery nail polish all of a sudden. "Hold it, hold it, hold it!" I said, standing between the two groups. They all ignored me, staring at the other side with barely concealed hostility. "He's a Reaper!" Lock, Shock, and Barrel said at the same time Kid said "They're witches!" I sighed. _Here we go again._ "Kid, these are my friends. They haven't done anything to you, so lay off. Guys, same to you. Stop proving you-know-who right."

They instantly went back to non-threatening mode. Jack was a sensitive subject among us. Kid didn't move. "Kid," I said, trying to convince him. "They don't want to hurt anyone." He didn't change his position at all, but Patty barked "They're witches! They kill other people and put them in a pot with giraffes and pigs and eat them! They're murderers!" Lock's eyes flashed. "Oh yeah?" she spat. "How about you DWMA people then? How many witches have you slaughtered? HOW MANY OF US HAVE YOU KILLED IN YOUR MAD QUEST FOR POWER?!" Kid winced. He seemed to be coming around to our side. Liz chimed in. "They kinda have a point Kid. Maybe we should hear them out."

I sighed in relief. "Okay, so Lock, Shock, and Barrel are weapon-witch meisters. Lock is a dagger witch." She nodded, and then whipped her arms out in an arch and spraying knives from her outstretched hands, which pegged into the wall around Kid. He didn't flinch. "Nice." Patty said, looking her with wide eyes, completely over her previous conviction. "Shock is a meister-witch." Shock nodded at us, then ran his hands over his hair once, before lashing out and sending a spray of Soul-Force waves at the same wall Lock had hit. "Barrel is a weapon-witch too. He's a staff witch." Barrel whipped both his hands together, before forming one into a peg that he drove into the ground, causing the pavement to crack, before letting it fall off. He wiggled his fingers, apparently unaffected by the loss of his peg-hand.

Sure enough, it was there, even though the peg was still in the ground. Kid blinked. "I may not be an expert on witch powers, but aren't they usually focused around some kind of animal?" he said, looking calm. They all blushed. "Well, um, we're, that is to say…" Lock trailed off. "They're just special." I said shortly, casting them a warning glance. They all relaxed imperceptibly. "Okay, so what's going on?" I said, facing away from Kid. "I thought you guys were helping people out and stuff, and Caniche seems to tolerate you." They all winced. "Brat…" muttered Shock, and the others looked like they agreed. "Who's she?" asked Liz, looking around nervously, and flashing to human form. "Caniche's the Head Witch of this village. Well, she was." Lock looked angry as she said this.

"Was indicates change." I said shortly. They all growled. "Mrs. Prissy-pants legged it as soon as Medusa showed." Barrel said, absently turning his hands from wood to flesh and back again. Shock put in "She only wanted to be a Head Witch because of the money and power she got over other witches. She had more than enough power to hold the barrier firm against Medusa, but that would mean physical effort on her part, and she's not very fond of that." I nodded. Cowards were not high on my list of favorite people, but lazy cowards were even lower. "Still, she wasn't all that bad." Akuma said charitably, shoving his hands in his pockets. "She let you guys stay here, and we all know that's more than most witches would have done."

Kid looked intensely curious. "Who's this Medusa you keep talking about?" he said, casting us a sharp look. We all shuffled our feet and avoided it. Old prejudices run deep. "She's just some mean snake witch who's been causing trouble for no reason." Lock said, spitting on the ground after a moment. I nodded. "She's also the one who made the DemonSword." I said, keeping my eyes on the ground in front of me. Patty giggled. "I hope I don't run into her!" she yelled giddily. Liz shushed her. "Quiet Patty! She might still be around!" I listened carefully. "No, she's gone." I said, sighing. Lock, Shock, and Barrel sighed as well. "Kage, Akuma, I hate to ask you guys this, but…" Lock trailed off, looking scared to finish.

I shook my heads. "That'll be even worse than not having a home. Think it through, you're already shunned now, coming with us won't make it any better. Medusa might come after you again, and there's worse than a snake witch and the DemonSword out there." This was a little ambiguous, because Kid was standing there, but we all knew what I was talking about. As clan members, they could talk to me, and Jack wouldn't mind _too_ much. And we were allowed to save them, because although we were technically blasphemers, Nightstalker (even outcast ones) do not leave there own. But if they tried to come with us things would get ugly.

She nodded. "Whistle and wait." They all said, bowing slightly. Akuma and I knew the correct response. "Respond and return." We said, returning the bow. We all said in unison "Cursed meet, cursed part, dead we meet again." They all waved and faded from sight, running into shadows the way only Nightstalker could do. We turned, seeing Liz, Patty, and Kid staring at us in a mixture of horror and confusion. "What was all that about?" He finally managed to say. I blushed slightly, catching Akuma's swords and sheathing them. "Nothing. Just something we always say." I said, brushing past him. He grabbed my shoulder. "Hang on a second." I froze. "What?" I said, turning to see his face. He was frowning, and Liz and Patty didn't look too friendly either.

"Tell the truth." He said firmly, looking me in the eye. "What was that all about? How do you know them? And why did you come to the DWMA now, if you're so friendly with the witches here?" I gulped. Telling the truth was not an instinctual reaction for me or Akuma. Just something that comes of being a Nightstalker I guess. And from having a freaking _demon_ stuck in your head all day. "Umm…" I said, trying to stall. "I…I… I'll tell your father. Right when we get back." He stared me in the eye for a moment longer, searching for the truth. He nodded and let go. "Fine. Right when we get back, and not a second later."

_**The plot thickens. Actually, it was pretty darn thick already. But I got bunches of stuff to throw at you guys, so don't worry! Review, Request, Rcomment! Auf Wedersien!**_


	7. Flying and Feelings

_**No before chap. info again. Just read. (Inspired by We are Young AMV) The wings look just like the ones Crona has, you know, all raggedy and black. I thought they were really cool.**_

_Kage's POV:_

"So, you want to talk to me about something?" Lord Death was really, really, intimidating when he wasn't being all stupid and ADHD. I swallowed, hard. Stein and Death Scythe flanked him, Stein looking crazy, like he wanted to dissect me (big surprise) and Death Scythe looking suspicious. Kid was there too, and he radiated hostile curiosity. On the guilty side, we have me and Akuma. There, the lines in the sand were drawn. Down to business. "Umm, yes sir." I said politely. "We, well, we haven't been entirely honest with you." I said sheepishly, standing on one leg. He nodded, and Death Scythe and Stein looked bored.

"Okay, so, it's like this…" I trailed off. "Umm, can it just be me and you sir?" I said. "This isn't a story Akuma wants to hear again, and everyone else is giving me freaky vibes." He rubbed the chin-space under his mask, since he didn't have a chin. "Well, yeah, I guess so. Everyone but me and her, out. Go on, shoo!" He waved his over-large hands at them, and they all left, Stein looking disappointed, Death Scythe looking very wary, and Kid looking suspicious. _So we're not telling them the __**whole **__whole truth?_ Akuma asked through my mental link. _Yeah, but we're telling them everything else._ I said back. "Oaky, it's like this sir. You read the book we left you?" I asked, waiting for his reaction. He made and exaggerated gesture of surprise. "That was you two?" he said, sounding stunned.

I winced. "Coming to that sir. So, when we were younger, we lived in the Nightstalker clan. We aren't Nightstalker anymore!" I said quickly, as he started up, looking angry. He scratched his head. "Isn't it a permanent thing?" I gulped. "Well, it is. Normally. But… when the clan leader banishes you, he breaks all links you have to the clan, including the ones that make you family." Queenie's voice hissed in my mind. _You're getting to be a pretty good liar nowadays. I'll have to watch my step._ I mentally squashed her down, focusing on Lord Death. "You see, we didn't agree with some of the ideals, and Jack kicked us out. We've been on the run from him ever since." I shuffled my feet. "He sends witches and Kishin after us, although he has attacked us himself on occasion."

Lord Death patted me on the head, and I choked in surprise. "Don't worry!" he said brightly. "We're on your side in all this! You never said anything because you're still part witch, aren't you?" I nodded. "Well don't worry about it! I give you both my official permission to be here!" I swallowed. "Thank you sir. That means a lot to us." He turned me around and shoved me back out the door. "I'll tell the others about it, but you'll need to tell your friends sometime." He said, closing the door behind me. I looked up to see Akuma standing in front of me. "So?" he asked, sounding suspicious. I made a circle with my forefinger and thumb. "We're good. Witch stuff, available."

He grinned. "Does that mean we can finally exercise our you-know-whats?" I frowned, thinking it over. "Well…I guess a little bit wouldn't hurt…" I said. "But we'll have to stay low." He gave me a high five and we raced for the doors to the outside world. I was just as eager as he was to be free again, but I was also more cautious than him by a long shot. As the doors opened, I saw a wonderful blue morning, with the sun shining on our upturned faces. It was pumped, laughing harder than I've ever seen it do before. Akuma broke my reverie. "C'mon Kage, we don't have all day!" I swallowed. "Sorry." I let my witch's soul blossom, swallowing my meister and weapon souls and using them for fuel.

"Witch style, activate. Meister-weapon, release." I muttered, becoming almost pure witch now. I took another deep breath, cracking an eye open to see if we had activated any alarms. Nobody was running towards us, screaming. Akuma was tapping a foot meaningfully, obviously impatient. "Sorry." I said, before chanting my incantation. "Shadow take, shadow steal, shadow make, shadow real." Akuma's shadow peeled off the ground, wrapping around his body and sliding around to his back. Mine copied his, although it was much more fluid. "Shadow take, shadow steal, shadow make, shadow real. Shade wings!" I said firmly, a bit worried I had forgotten how to control them.

I opened my eyes, and sighed when I saw Akuma hovered off the ground with ragged wings, grinning at me. I flexed my shoulder muscles, and was lifted off the ground, giggling a little as I did. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw my wings, gauzy and black, like black paper cutouts, clumsily mimicking a wing-like shape. That was a common misconception, but they were a great deal more aerodynamic than they looked. For example, I could outfly a passing jet if I wanted to. And they could block bullets. Shadows are amazingly volatile. Technically, the only reason they stayed in a (semi) winged shape is because a spell held them there. Otherwise they'd literally be all over. Thus the reason for messy edges and flimsy looking structure.

Akuma interrupted my thoughts yet again with a whoop as he surged into the air, utterly disregarding any need for secrecy. "THIS IS AWESOME! I CAN'T BELIVE WE STOPED DOING THIS!" I yelled after him "Wait! What about the meisters!?" He was too far up to hear me, and I flapped my wings, twice, hard. I plowed into the air next to him, and repeated myself. "SCEW THE MEISTERS!" he screamed, flying up even higher. I winced. _Language._ I thought after him. His voice returned to me, sounding annoyed. _Who cares? This is the one thing we can do without fear of pain. Stop interrupting my vibes. Just…try and enjoy it, please?_ I hung in the air, letting my wings flap in slow, lazy beats. The wind from the desert ruffled my hair and slid under my wings, and I looked down, assessing the danger.

Then it hit me. I remembered why I used to love this. No matter where we crawled on the ground, there was always the chance of someone coming across us and chaining us down. Up here in the air, I was truly free. _Free…_ I surged into the air with a whoop, sliding into a controlled spin upwards that helped with the wind resistance, pounding my wings into the air and letting the full and undiluted joy of being a creature of the air flow through me. Akuma popped up next to me, grinning breathlessly, and without a word we engaged in mock battle, swooping in and out of the clouds and slamming each other with punishing wingbeats. I swiped my wing down his side, and he yelped as it became momentarily sharp. "Why you-"

He slammed into me with a crack, pounding me with his wings instead of slicing like I did. I flipped him over, using my wings to halt the decent that he had caused. I dropped him, letting him swerve back upright and blast back towards me. I laughed, avoiding him easily and darting behind a cloud. "Missed me, missed me, now you gotta kiss me!" I sang, using a powerful backbeat of my wings to blast the cloud at him. He growled, avoiding it and hurling towards me. I tagged him again as he shot past, and he whirled, intent on punishing me.

I let him whack me away several feet, before giggling and blasting past him, shouting "CATCH ME IF YOU CAN SLOWPOKE!" He hissed and followed, but I had the edge on speed, and managed to keep away. Suddenly he shot through a cloud next to me, whapping me over the head with a wing and shouting "YOU'RE IT!" before launching himself into a cloudbank several miles long and deep. I snorted and shot after him, letting the misty cloud obscure me completely. _Hiding is useless dear brother._

_Death the Kid's POV:_

I swerved around a cloud, staring moodily at the ground. Father had told me about Kage and Akuma's connections with the Nightstalker, and I felt sorry for them both. _To be hunted by your own family…_ No wonder they were unused to other people, and a bit hostile to strangers. That also explained the fact they knew witches, especially such odd ones as Lock, Shock, and Barrel. Liz and Patty were somewhere else, probably shopping, so I was alone. That was alright, liberating in fact. Being around such conflicting personalities was exhausting, especially when they were sisters. I winced as I remembered their latest argument. _"Why does Kid get to hear about Kage and her brother!?" Patty wailed. Liz hushed her. "He's got more influence with his dad, and he'll tell us later." Patty drummed her heels on the ground. "BUT I WANNA KNOW NOW!" she screamed. Liz sighed. "I know, we'll go to the mall. See ya Kid." They trooped out the door, Patty completely forgetting about learning about Kage and Akuma._

My thoughts were interrupted by a sound. I frowned. _Laughter? Who comes up here besides me?_ A dark blur shot past me, almost knocking me off Beelzebub. It shouted "CAN'T CATCH ME!" I righted myself, panting. _What the-_ Another blur shot past me, bellowing "GIVE ME MY JACKET BACK YOU LITTLE SNITCH OR I WILL RIP YOU LIMB FROM LIMB!" The first person shot up, and with a shock I recognized Kage. She was holding a jacket, one that looked almost identical to hers. But what really got me was the look of pure joy on her face, her eyes lighting up and sparkling. She was laughing hysterically. "Oopsie." She said, dropping the jacket and watching what must have been her brother dive for it. He caught it and circled up, glaring at her.

Then I got past the fact they were having fun and saw _wings_, ragged, black, loosely formed _wings_, sprouting from their backs. Wings that were horribly "ASYMETRICAL!" I shouted, blacking out and falling from my skateboard. I fell through the air, expecting to hit the ground hard, but was caught by something warm and soft. I opened my eyes and saw Kage, eyes dancing in amusement, holding me up and beating her- "Gak!" My head dropped again, dazed by the asymmetrical wings. I heard her voice filter through my muddled brain. "Hey, he's bleeding out of his nose and his eye's twitching. Do you think he's okay?" I heard another set of _wingbeats_ and Akuma said "Didn't Liz say something about symmetry fits? I distinctly heard him scream something to that effect."

I felt someone turn my head, examining me. "What do you think we should do to help him wake up?" Akuma's voice said darkly "You can drop him, and if he regains consciousness before he hits the ground, he's fine." I heard a muffled contact, and then Kage said "Hey, Kid, can you hear me? Do something if you can." I twitched my hand, and tried to say something. Her voice said in amusement "Well, he twitched and he moaned. Now Kid, look at our wings. They may be umm, _asymmetrical_, but they're symmetrically asymmetrical, see? Mine match Akuma's." I opened my aching eyes, seeing that their wings were in fact symmetrical to each other, despite the fact they lacked any other symmetry.

Then something else rose to the top of my mind. "How are you two doing that?" I asked, slurring a little because of the wings. Kage blushed and Akuma said "Sissy here's a shadow-witch. Very rare, very hard to conceal and control. She made these beauties out of our own shadows. Right now, we aren't casting any, although we're too high up for anyone to notice." She blushed brighter and looked around. "Where'd your skateboard go?" she said, looking back down at me. I blinked, and then remembered "Probably vanished when I was knocked out. Let me sit up and I'll summon it." I blushed slightly when I realized she was holding me bridal style, one arm under my knees and the other around my shoulders.

Neither of them seemed to notice, and she maneuvered me so I was sitting up so fast I inadvertently gripped her tighter, realizing with another blush both my arms were around her as well. I let go, muttering "Sorry." Under my breath. I summoned Beelzebub, stepping onto it with a measure of relief. "That's pretty dang cool." Akuma said, inspecting it. Kage nodded, hovering just below it, checking out the bottom. "I see you are a fan of Lord Death." She teased, noting the two skulls on the bottom. I smiled at her slightly. "Ha-ha. What are you two doing up here anyway?" I said, maneuvering away. Kage shrugged, effortlessly coming up next to me.

"Flying. Being. Laughing. Playing. Take your pick." She said, shrugging. Akuma said casually "You don't know what we're talking about? Listen dude, you haven't lived until you've flown. Of course, you know a bit of what we're saying, because you can kinda fly." He gestured towards my skateboard. Kage whacked him with her wing. "Stop being so mean about it. Kid, wanna fly with us for a bit?" I blinked. "You can cast that spell on me?" She nodded. I bit my lip. "…I guess a few minutes wouldn't hurt…" I said hesitantly, not really sure of this at all. She grinned, and I felt a strange warmth in my chest. _Why does that make me feel so good?_

She started instructing me. "Okay, when you get your wings, to flap them, just kinda shrug your shoulders. It takes a while to remember to do it and talk, so wait until you're sure you're used to it before trying, okay?" I nodded, already reconsidering this. She clapped her hands together, staring at me hard. She started chanting, and the hairs on the back of my neck rose. She was…creepy. "Shadow take, shadow steal, shadow make, shadow real." She droned, and my back felt like I had drenched it in warm water, and I half-turned, seeing a black formless thing slid up my shoulders. "Shadow take, shadow steal, shadow make, shadow real. Shade wings!" I shrugged like she told me to, and felt shock as I lifted up in the air, before coming back down.

She saw my expression and grinned again. "Odd, isn't it? Just do that a whole lot more and you've got it. Don't worry; if you fall we'll catch you." I pumped my wings, feeling an unexpected surge of joy and I wobbled in the air, before dipping slightly. I did this again and again, gaining height until I was up to Kage and Akuma's level. They both cast wicked grins in my direction. Akuma mimed taking pictures. "Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the world's only Reaper with shadow wings, who flies like a drunken chicken." Kage cuffed him again with her wing. "Knock it off. You weren't so smooth your first time either."

I shrugged, but this time it was meant as an actual shrug. "Actually, it is rather hard." I panted, trying to stay in position. Akuma stroked his chin. "You know, this might be a good time for Kamikaze." I blinked. "What's that?" Kage grinned. "This." She said, before folding her wings and dropping to the ground. I stared in mute horror, missing a few wingbeats myself. I gasped as her form grew smaller and smaller. Suddenly something shot past us, and I heard her giggle as we both had to maneuver carefully not to get knocked out of the sky. Akuma explained. "Kamikaze is when you drop as close to the ground as you dare, before shooting up and ramming into the person above you. We aren't going to do that now, because you're a beginner. Once I broke Kage's arm."

Kage dropped back down to our level. "No he didn't, he just bruised me a little. You wanna try Kid?" she said, watching me carefully. I swallowed. "Umm, okay." I copied her movement, folding the shadow-wings close to my body and dropping through the air. It was both terrifying and exhilarating. I couldn't help but whoop in joy as I fell, and then remembered I was supposed to come back up. I shrugged, unfurling the wings. My back muscles immediately shrieked in pain, but I hung in the air, painfully. I flapped again, pulling myself up. When I got back to Akuma and Kage, it felt like my back was on fire. She was talking with him animatedly, and didn't see or hear me. "Excellent controlled drop, but he's probably not going to be able to handle the upswing." He nodded. "Yeah, but he's got style. I heard him shriek, so he must enjoy just as much as we do. Maybe there is something to this whole friend's theory of yours."

I coughed, and they both looked at me. "Oh hey Kid." Akuma said, waving at me. Kage frowned. "Kid, are you okay? You're shadow's hurt." I blinked. _My shadow? What is she talking about?_ Then I missed the flap of the shadow wings, and I dropped again. I twisted, but saw the wings were gone, completely melted away. Then an impact drove all of the breath out of me, and Kage grunted beneath me. "Kid, you need to stop dropping in on me like this." She said teasingly, hair whipping around her face as she pumped her wings in the air. I stared at her, confused. "What happened?" I asked, pointing behind me. "The wings are gone." She bit her lip. "I have no clue. Do you mind?" I blinked, not sure what she was asking me about. "Not…really?" I said, wincing because it sounded more like a question.

I was instantly pulled closer to her and felt a cool hand run along my back. Her face was inches from mine, but she was staring off next to me, completely ignoring my shocked face. Her fingers ran gently along my shoulder blades, and she frowned. "Wings seemed to have vanished completely, ignoring the spell set upon subject, and not merely retracted." She said vacantly, as if thinking out loud. "Casting of perimeter shows no hostile magics, and subject's shadow is still absent from ground." I blinked, realizing she sounded like Stein when he was dissecting something for class. She withdrew her hand from under my shirt and pulled my collar away from my neck, looking at my back. "No visible signs of shadow at all. Did not plaster itself to subject's back, as previously thought."

Akuma coughed. "Sorry about that Kid, she's a bit…Stein-ish when she's trying to find something out. Completely impartial scientist's mind too." Kage blinked like she was waking up. "Hmm? Oh yeah, sorry about that Kid." She said, letting go of my collar. She closed her eyes and frowned, obviously concentrating on something hard. One of her hands reached out into empty air, and she moved her lips slightly like she was saying words. "Got it!" She said in satisfaction, opening her eyes. I looked at her hand, and raised my eyebrows when I saw a dangling shadow. "So what happened? Is that my shadow?" I asked, reaching for it.

She pulled it out of reach, before balling it up and pressing it against my foot. "It shattered." She said, watching it seemingly dissolve into thin air. "Apparently your shadow doesn't take well to being manipulated for great lengths of time. That and you strained something in your back. So it sort of shattered, and peeled away from you. Sorry, I thought I could hold a spell better than that." I shrugged. "That's okay. Is it back now?" She nodded. "Back on the ground, like it always is when you're at this height." I summoned Beelzebub and stepped on. "Well, see you sometime." Said Akuma, dropping back to earth. Kage nodded, and waved. "Yeah, see you Kid." She said before dropping as well. I hovered there in the air, watching how surprisingly agile they were in the air.

I shivered belatedly, remembering how Kage had run her hands over my back. _God, why did that feel so good?_ I shook my head, trying to clear out such strange thoughts. _She said I pulled some muscle in my back. That's probably why, her hands were colder than my body, and so it felt good on the pulled muscle or something. That's all._ I quickly flew back down to ground level; avoiding the route Kage and Akuma took. _I need to do some research or something. It'll take my mind off things. Maybe that Holy Sword I've been hearing about… yes, didn't someone say it was symmetrical?_

_Kage's POV:_

As soon as we got to the ground, Akuma said he wanted some coffee from DeathBucks and wandered off. We both knew that wasn't why he wanted to be gone. Being my brother, as well as my weapon partner, he knew I needed some cooling down space, and that I should just be left alone for a few hours. I walked back inside, shivering. _God, I just felt up Lord Death's son. Someone up there hates me right now._ I rubbed my upper arms, trying to get the feel of his back out of my mind. _Stupid analyzing mind. I wonder if he works out or something, he was very well muscled… oh god, THINK OF SOMETHING ELSE ALREADY. Umm, whats the most likely thing to get HIM off my mind?_ "Excalibur." A voice said from the room next to me, and I stifled a giggle.

_Lame. Oh, that's Blackstar? I __**so**__ want to see this._ I stuck my head in the library, seeing Blackstar and…Kid mooning over the Holy Sword. _FOOLS._ I thought in my best Excalibur voice. Stein was talking to them now. "Really? You tried to pull the sword?" Blackstar was saying, staring at Stein. Kid was looking at him too. "Even you couldn't draw the sword professor?" He said, and then looked at a book he was holding. "The Holy Sword Excalibur." Blackstar looked at it too. "Now I'm really interested!" I stepped in. "Yeah, Excalibur's a real tough one." I said casually, hands in my pockets. They all stared at me. "You've tried for it too?" said Blackstar, looking jealous. Kid was just staring at me, and I had to put in all my poker-face training not to blush. Stein raised an eyebrow.

"Why don't you have it?" he said, both of us knowing exactly why I didn't. I grinned at him. "Aww, Akuma's all the partner I need. Excalibur's just too much, you know?" He nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, he is." Blackstar grabbed my sleeve. "Alright! You can lead us there!" he said, pulling me towards the entrance. "Wait!" I said, pulling back. "I can't just go running off after the Holy Sword!" Blackstar ignored me. "Kid, a little help here!" I said, yanking as hard as I could. He rubbed the back of his head. "Umm…" I screamed my frustration to the sky. "YOU GOTTA BE FREAKING KIDDING ME! NOT AGAIN!"

_**Poor Kage. She must suffer the Holy Sword again. *Makes tiny violin sounds* Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien!**_


	8. FOOLS!

_**THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING GREAT ZERO! Actually, I'm updating once a day, every other day at the very least, when I'm hopelessly stuck in a writer's block. Thankfully, my sister's let me get off the hook a little bit for this chapter, since it's so much involved with the actual story. NOT BASED OFF ANTHING, OH YEAH! Sadly, we must meet the Holy Sword.**_

_Death the Kid's POV:_

I stared up at the cliff Kage had led us to. "This is it." She said, staring at it as well, only with a scowl on her face. "Yahoo!" Blackstar said, grinning madly. "Excalibur's up there waiting for me." Kage nodded. "Yeah. You have to climb though." She said, launching herself at the cliff face and running up it like a vertical surface. "Whoa, she can do that?" Blackstar said, staring at her. I nodded, summoning Beelzebub. I heard him yell behind me "Hey, no fair!" there was a moment's silence and I heard "YOU'RE NOT LEAVING ME BEHIND!" Then realized that there was water. A lot of water. Blackstar landed with a crash in said water, and then said "Kid's not here, where'd he go?" He turned to look in the cave. "In there maybe?"

_Kage's POV:_

I sighed. _WHY!? Why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why!? _I was leaning against one of the stalagmites, hearing Blackstar scale the cliff. Then Kid's voice said above us "Guys, I can't come down, there's water. My pants are going to get wet." I rolled my eyes. "What are you talking about?" Blackstar said. Kid asked "You'll carry me?" Blackstar turned with a huff "Yeah right, you can stay there." He said, walking into the cave. I sighed, slouching out so I was under Kid. "You're going to owe me big after this is done." I said, watching him coolly. He started climbing down, and I moved so he could climb on my back. I felt him land on me, then his legs wrapped around my waist. I started walking, and his arms suddenly squeezed my throat. "N-not so fast!" he said, holding on tightly.

I choked, yanking at his hands. "Not s-so t-tight!" I managed to gasp out, and his hold immediately relaxed. "Sorry." He said in an abashed tone of voice. "Yeah, okay, fine." I said, walking into the cave at a much slower pace. Blackstar was waiting for us, hands on his hips. "You two ready yet?" he growled, and I shrugged, almost dumping Kid. "I was born ready. Blame him." I said, pointing over my shoulder. I heard a flapping sound, and then the water droplets hitting my arms stopped. "I'll ward off the water from above, and you can handle the water from ground, okay?" Kid said, and I looked over my shoulder to see him holding an umbrella.

I rolled my eyes. "YES. Now let's go already." I said, walking past Blackstar and heading for the place I knew Excalibur to be. A bright light suddenly shone on us, and I looked up to see one of the fairies that always hung around here hovering in front of us. "It looks like a fairy. What's something like that doing here?" Blackstar said, peering at her. "We're hunting after a legendary sword, finding a fairy or two shouldn't be surprising." Kid said neutrally. "Is Excalibur up ahead? Are we in the right place?" he asked her, and she winced and flew off. "She's not a very polite fairy is she?" Blackstar huffed, annoyed at her sudden exit.

We finally came to the cave where His Resident Annoyingness held court. Blackstar and Kid oohed and ahhed over it, and I counted the seconds, hoping we could leave _soon._ "Welcome." _Oh crap. Here comes chaos._ "Welcome to my cave young ones." Excalibur said, and I sighed and walked over to them. "It's talking…" Blackstar said, watching as he glowed brighter and brighter. "Please forgive the belated salutations. I am the Holy Sword Excalibur!" he glowed so bright Kid and Blackstar had to avert their eyes, and I sighed again. "How…incredibly… LAME!" Blackstar said, staring at Excalibur's more human form in annoyance.

They both went into spasms as they tried to hold back laughter. "You're the Holy Sword? In the top hat? Seriously?" Blackstar said, choking. Excalibur swung his cane so it pointed directly in Blackstar's face. "You're one to talk in that funny outfit. Who are you exactly?" he said. "Who am I?" Blackstar said "I'm Blackstar, the big-" Excalibur cut him off. "My legend dates back to the Twelfth Century, thank you very much. From the looks of you, you must be meisters. Where are you children from?" he said, pointing his cane at him again. "Who do you think you are, pointing that thing at me? Put it down freak." He said, knocking it away. Kid tried to say "We're from Death Weapon-" Excalibur interrupted again. "I knew that. Here, I want to show you something."

Blackstar put his hands on his hips. "Why did you ask if you already knew the answer?" Excalibur ignored him. "What's with this guy? And why the hell isn't he wearing any pants?" he said. "What's he showing us I wonder?" Kid said, not answering the question. Excalibur swung around and pointed his cane at Blackstar again. "Young ones, do you want to hear the legend of me?" Blackstar yelled "Put that thing away!" Excalibur ignored him. "Do you want to hear a heroic tale?" Blackstar was showing veins in his forehead. "Get that out of my face." He muttered through clenched teeth. "Where have you traveled here from?" Excalibur said. Blackstar hit the cane so it swung away from him. "Like we said, we're from Death Weapon Meister-" Excalibur swung his cane back. "What is your favorite number between one and twelve?"

Blackstar hit the cane again. "What? Between one and twelve? One obviously, because I refuse to back down until I'm number one." Kid broke in. "And mine is eight, because of its perfect symmetry." I couldn't help but poke fun at him. "And mine is thirteen, because of all the superstitions surrounding it." Excalibur swung his cane so it was pointing at my face. "One and twelve." He said. I grinned. "Thirteen." He repeated himself. "ONE and TWELVE. " I grabbed his cane, yanking on it. "THIRTEEN." He was silent for a moment, and then suddenly swung around to face Blackstar and Kid. "FOOLS. What right do you have to choose a number? My legend dates all the way back to the Twelfth Century you know."

"You asked us to pick a number so we did." Blackstar said, and Excalibur jabbed his cane at his face again. "Do you want to hear my legend or not?" he said. "Just quit with the cane already will ya?" he growled. "As I said, my legend begins in the Twelfth Century…" Excalibur went on, and I zoned out, having heard this a lot before. Then Excalibur's voice broke through. "This is why I can't abide hay seats." Blackstar screamed out into another point of the cave. "You are beyond annoying!" he yelled, and Kid said "Blackstar, calm down. Don't let this guy and his nonsense get to you." Blackstar grabbed the book, staring at the title. "Holy Sword!? You gotta be kidding me! Let me see that, it's completely unreliable! Who wrote this!?"

"Let's see. The author is…E...Ex…Excali…ber?" Kid broke in, sounding annoyed. "Excalibur." Blackstar threw the book to the ground. "It was you!?" Excalibur stuck the cane in his face. "No autographs!" He handed them the 1,000 provisions, ignoring me, which suited me just fine. "Before becoming my meister, there is a list of a 1,000 provisions you must peruse. Be sure to look through all of them, they're important." Kid flipped the top page of his stack over. "Even the backs of these pages have been written on." Excalibur wagged his cane at them. "I greatly look forward to your participation in #452, the five hour story-telling party."

He threw up his arms, starting to glow. "And thus!" A powerful wind swept the pages out of their hands. "Thus you have been chosen! It shall all be yours! Victory, and glory!" I groaned. _And a splitting headache._ "Victory!" "Glory!" Kid and Blackstar held out their hands. "Now let's go! Together!" Excalibur shouted, unfolding his weapon-form's wings. They stuck him back in the ground. "Yeah right, who'd ever want a sword like you!" Blackstar scoffed, one eye twitching. "Useless piece of metal." Kid spat. I nodded. "_I_ already knew that. Let's get gone." We started walking away, and Excalibur yelled after us "Hey! Hold on, come back! I tell you what, I can lower those 1,000 provisions to 800. Just as long as you participate in the five hour story-telling party."

"Anyone who could put up with him is a hero." Blackstar growled, and Kid nodded. "Disgusting." I giggled. "That was almost worth getting dragged all the way over here, just to see the disappointment on your faces." They both stared at me. "WHAT?" Blackstar yelled. "You knew what an annoying piece of trash that thing was?" Kid said, one eye twitching. I grinned. "Yep. Me and Akuma were stuck in this cave one winter, and we _heard it all._ EVERY DAY. So it's quite nice to see someone fall for the candy-coated legend." Blackstar slammed his head against the wall repeatedly, and I heard "Every-single-day-I-would-have-gone-nuts-why-didn' t-I-think-of-bringing-someone-sane!?" Kid patted my shoulder. "All winter? I feel so sorry for you." He said, and I felt a shiver go down my spine as I saw his warm golden-yellow eyes.

_What the hell is wrong with me around him? Is it his soul? Is it a sort of reaction to Reapers?_ Queenie's voice hissed in my mind. _Oh, I can tell you what's wrong with you. Does he pull at you? Does he make you want him? Does he-_ I slammed my will against hers, forcing her as far down as I could. _SHUT THE HELL UP! IF YOU MENTION ANYTHING ALONG THOSE LINES AGAIN I WILL RIP YOU LIMB FROM BLOODY LIMB!_ She smirked sweetly. _Temper, temper._ I ignored her, waling on ahead and leaving Blackstar to carry Kid. Right now, I wanted to be as far away from everyone else as physically possible. Being me, that was an utterly impossibility. "Excalibur's cave?" a voice behind me said, and I whipped around to see Jack leaning on one of the jutting pieces of rock. "You've hidden here already, haven't you? Getting complacent? I've always been right behind you. Maybe your terror-fogged mind has led you to forget your lessons."

I whipped out some of my shadow, forcing it into a sword shape. "Just a visit." I said neutrally, keeping my emotions hidden. One corner of his mouth twitched in that smirk I hated so much. "You _don't have time_ to be visiting. I'm right here. You're right there. In simple terms, you're about to die." I didn't bolt. That wouldn't work on a Nightstalker, and I was pretty sure if he wanted me dead, I would have been dead minutes before now. "The purge? Who survived?" I said, silently begging Kid and Blackstar to show up. He frowned thinly. "Nobody except me, you, the witchmeisters, and our Kishinmeisters in central Europe. I've called a meeting."

"Well and good for you and the clan." I said, clearly conveying I wanted him to leave. He grinned in his way, nearly splitting his face open and showing exactly why he was leader of a bunch of crazy murderers. "I want you two to come. In fact, I insist on it. Don't you want to be home again?" I shook my head, longing rushing through me. _It's a trick, a trap, something like that. He doesn't want us back. He wants us dead._ That didn't convince me very much. Being without my clanmates to rely on was like a meister losing their weapon. It was emptiness. It was hunger. It was loneliness. "Halloween?" I said finally. He grinned wider. "Of course. Where else?"

I hung my head. "Fine. But you or anyone affiliated with you can't attack us on our way there or back." He sighed. "You still don't trust me?" He said in annoyance, and I snarled. "I don't trust anyone, and you the very least. I still have the scar." He smirked. "At least it isn't as permanent as it could be." Okay, he was kinda right. Theoretically, he could have it made with one of those wire thin brands, and press it all the way into the bone, so not only would it show up on my skin, but when I died and turned to dust, it would be on my bones as well. But, that was reserved for those who had gone way too far, and were unredeemable in life _and_ death. But, that was going a bit too far even for him.

"Kage? Are you going to stand there all day?" Kid's voice interrupted my train of thought, and I didn't even have to look to know Jack was long gone. "Umm, no, just…remembering?" I said, turning away. They were both staring at me. "She's kinda weird sometimes, isn't she?" Blackstar said, and Kid glared at him. "Whatever. Don't pay attention to Blackstar, you're just fine Kage." I rolled my eyes. "I knew not to pay attention to _him_ a long time ago! Honestly, what do you take me for? FOOLS!" They both winced, and I smirked.

_***Time Skip***_

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NOT HAPPENING, NOT IN A THOUSAND YEARS! IMPOSSIBLE, NO WAY, NOT LIKELY, AND IN CASE I DIDN'T MAKE MYSELF CLEAR, **NO**!" Akuma was literally incoherent with rage. I sighed quietly. DK materialized next to me. _You know doll, this might work to tip him over the edge. I'm with you all the way._ Akuma glared at him, and he writhed in pain. _AH! IT BURNS! IT BURNS SO BAD! Oh wait, no it doesn't. Sorry, my bad. Keep glaring all you want, I find it invigorating._ He grinned at Akuma, who snarled and kept pacing. Queenie writhed the shadows into a humanoid shape. _He needs to look at this from a more coolheaded perspective. I agree, you should go. You might find out what Jack has planned for you two. Nice bit of bargaining by the way, good form of protection._

"Three against one." I said, placing a hand on Akuma's shoulder. "We're going." He looked at me, and his emotions churned in my mind. He was so angry, because we were going to be in Jack's reach. He was so afraid, because his anger was eating at his sanity. He was so confused, because his emotions were writhing and clashing inside of him. I griped his shoulder tighter. "Four against one if you're in." I said, grinning at him. He took a deep breath. "Yeah, but we're only staying the bare minimum of time."

_Maka's POV:_

We were all walking home from school, and I caught a glimpse of Kage and Akuma's souls. "Hey, Kid, do you feel that?" I said, stopping dead. He nodded. "What are they doing here?" Blackstar looked around excitedly. "What? Who? Where?" I shushed him. "Kage and her brother are nearby." Liz looked puzzled. "But they didn't live in this part of town, and nobody they know does either." Patty giggled. "I BET THEY'RE DOING SOMETHING NAUGHTY!" she all but screamed out, and we all shushed her. "Let's follow them and ask." Tsubaki said, transforming so we could move faster. Soul, Liz, and Patty did the same. We ran after the retreating miesters' souls, and there was one question on my mind. _What are they up to now?_

_Kage's POV:_

I sighed, feeling energy flood my entire being. "Two miles and counting!" I giggled, leaping up into a tree. Akuma ran beneath me, slipping through the underbrush without a sound. I could feel the familiar energies of HalloweenTown brushing against my soul like a warm breeze. _God, I forgot what a rush this feels like! So much power!_ We landed in the field, and the looming town rose out of the mist obscuring the old forest. This wasn't the sort of forest people came in. This was a forest straight out of a fairy tale, but not the nice one where the cute kids find their way out with a pile of gold and gems. This was the witch's forest, the killer's hideout, the robber's den. The trees, all twisted and bent, gave off a vibe that said _"Pause on that little dirt path, halt for just a moment, and I snatch you up and grind you to paste. There are wicked things in my branches, and a deadly wind sifts through my boughs."_

There were menacing little crunches, ones that seemed to be much to stealthy and unwanted to be little forest animals. A mist was always wafting _somewhere_, and there was a wet smell of rotting leaves, and mildew. Toadstools popped up out of shadowed nooks, and they gave off an _"A witch puts me in her pot, and the people who drink that brew are never seen again, and neither will you if you take a bite."_ vibe. All in all, it was a pretty darn spooky place. We loved it. This was a place where freaks found absolute comfort, and if it was a bit, well, macabre, who cares? This was _our_ place, _our_ home, _our_ town. This was peace.

I walked in the long grass, feeling it brush up against my thigh. A wind whispered through, and I may have caught the words _"You're back…" _sighing in its wake. Akuma walked beside me, and we stared at the gates to our home. Iron posts circled the perimeter in an unbroken line, but they were all leaning against each other, and to make it worse, they had rusty stains that may or may not have been old, dried, crusty blood. The gate was a different matter. A giant scarecrow-like wrought-iron creature was there, using it's outspread arms as the gate's arch, and a pumpkin head grinned at us from the dead enter. A plague was affixed to the right side. _"Innocent be wary, meisters be dammed, witches be strong, Nightstalker be welcome. The wary will rest, the dammed will die, and the strong will survive, but all shall bow to the Pumpkin Soul. Cursed meet, cursed part, dead we meet again. May you die well."_

We ignored it. After all, it said nothing about outcasts, did it? And we used to be Nightstalker, so who cares? Anyway, we walked right in that creaky old gate, and it let out an extra loud screech as it opened, as if welcoming us home. It closed behind us silently, and Halloween came to life.

_**CLIFFHANGER, oh yeah! Hey, you know it will be up tomorrow. Trust me, everything turns out marginally okay. Well, not really. Not really at all. Does anyone die? No, not anyone we know (As of right now, but I gotta introduce the **__residents__** of HalloweenTown, don't I? Jack only lives there on occasion) How you must hate me. Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien! **_


	9. This is Halloween, TOWN

_**Gotta get this going! Based off of the Friends on the other Side AMV, and This is Halloween, of course. Do Not Own Lyrics!**_

_Kage's POV:_

"Hey Skullmaster! Long time no clack!" Akuma hailed an old skeleton, which bent towards us. "Curse my bones!" It croaked in a dusty voice. "If it isn't little Akuma and Kage! Why, it's been years! You were this small when I saw you last!" He held a bony hand about level with his knee. He was at odds with his clothing, a _very_ well maintained suit with shiny shoes. He said once that not having anything else to make an impression with meant that you had to make the very best impression with what you had. Personally, he would have made quite the impression on most people, because he was a walking, talking skeleton. "Yeah, we've been…out." I said sheepishly, rubbing my shoulder, where my scar was beginning to ache. He stared at me, a tiny white light flaring up in his eye sockets.

"Well, you had your reasons I'm sure. How are things?" Akuma chatted Skull up, while I looked around for some old haunts. Literally. "My dear, you've progressed." A woman in a long white dress faded into the air next to me. "You should start finding yourself a husband, before you go to rot." I coughed nervously. "Pardon Madam Wrath. But this is the twentieth century, we age much slower…" I trailed off, because frankly, we both knew she wouldn't remember a word I said. Such old acquaintances made their appearances, but none were as much our "friends" as Skull and Madam Wrath. Skull was like a rather deaf old uncle to us, and Madam Wrath, despite her short-term memory, was a nice sort of person. After all, she got tired of being called _wraith_ by ghost hunters and such, so she called herself Madam Wrath. I didn't have the heart to tell her that it was her form they were calling wraith, not her name. The madam was right enough, as she had been some high social muckty-muck before she died.

"Hey Kage!" Lock hugged me around the waist. "It's so nice to see you again! How'd you get in? Where's your boyfriend?" I rolled my eyes. "Nice to see you too. Kid is _not_ my boyfriend by the way, so get that idea out of your head. Jack…invited us." She looked around. "Well, you two better hurry up! The meetings almost started!" she grabbed me and Akuma's hands and dragged us off, me yelling apologies over my shoulder. "Sorry! Got to go! See you later!" Madam Wrath and Skull waved at us, before he wobbled over to a graveyard and she vanished.

_Maka's POV:_

"Whoa, creepy." Soul stared at the town rising above us. It had spikes and pumpkins crazily projecting from every roof, and a dark and twisted style of architecture. Liz was almost in tears by this point, and Patty had to hold her down to keep her from fleeing. Kid was in a fit because of the asymmetry, and Blackstar was busy hunting for an opponent. Tsubaki stood by me, holding her chin. "You know, it might not be so bad as it looks." She said, doubtfully, trying to lighten the mood. I shrugged. "Maybe, but I'm somehow getting the impression we aren't welcome here." We managed to revive Kid and catch Blackstar, and we all walked towards a gate. Liz broke down again when we got there, and we all felt a chill run down our spines.

_"Innocent be wary, meisters be dammed, witches be strong, Nightstalker be welcome. The wary will rest, the dammed will die, and the strong will survive, but all shall bow to the Pumpkin Soul. Cursed meet, cursed part, dead we meet again. May you die well."_ Kid stared at the sign. "I heard Kage and Akuma say part of that chant before." He pointed to the second to last line. "Where?" Blackstar said, peering at it. "Cursed meet, cursed part, dead we meet again." He said slowly, and Soul frowned. "They've been here before, haven't they?" He said, looking around. I bit my lip. "It seems like it yeah, but why come here now?" Tsubaki said, and we all puzzled over that for a moment, but then a gust of wind slammed the gate open, and we all jumped. It may have been my over-active imagination, but I could have sworn the wind moan _"You are not welcome here…"_

Liz wailed. "OH MY GOD, DID YOU GUYS HERE THAT!?" I shook my head rapidly. "I-it was j-just our i-imaginations, I'm sure." I said, and Soul nodded. "Yeah, it was nothing, nothing at all." We walked in, and I shivered. The lines from the sign kept running around and around in my head. _Meisters be dammed…the dammed will die…you are not welcome here…leave…run…you do not belong… flee…_ I heard a commotion coming from further up the street. "C'mon guys, let's not get all freaked out over a little old ghost town!" said Blackstar running off towards it. I sighed, and then followed. _He's actually right for once, there's nothing to be afraid of here._

_Kage's POV:_

We had almost finished up. The Kishinmeisters from Europe were all okay, but they kept their distance from me and Akuma. Lock, Shock, and Barrel were all being very friendly like usual, despite Jack's glares. Then suddenly everyone's head whipped around. "Meisters!" hissed Jack, and the others growled. I felt for the souls and winced when I recognized Maka, Soul, Kid, Blackstar, Liz, Patty, and Tsubaki. _Oh no…_ "Lock! Shock! Barrel! GO!" Jack barked, and they ran off after a short bob of gratitude. I felt a trace of unease. _We're all alone now…no allies…_ Jack interrupted my thoughts. "Well now, the only thing to do is get rid of the demons inside you two, and we can all go our separate ways." He said, and we flinched. "Umm…about that…how exactly are you going to do that without killing us?" Akuma said angrily, and I nodded.

"Not very easily, but it can be done with your cooperation." He said, tugging his sleeves into place. I bit my lip. _We'll have to trust him completely…surrender ourselves to his magic…but to be free of those two…what should we do!?_ I glanced at Akuma. He squeezed my hand reassuringly. "We got this." He mouthed, and I faced Jack. "Yes. Do whatever you need, we'll go alone with it." He grinned. "Excellent. Just stand right there, will you?" he walked to the center of the square, where there was a huge statue of the Pumpkin King. He began to chant, head bowed, and the other members of the clan joined in. We relaxed, allowing the magic to wash over us.

Suddenly there was a snap inside my eyelids. _What the!? _ Akuma's voice broke into my thoughts. _Kage…he tricked us! He's…__**enlarging**__ our demon natures! Break away! Stop it!_ We both struggled, but the power was getting to be too much. "Stop worrying. It's all over now. You can just go to sleep, we're in charge. Don't be so angry, after all, this is what you're meant to be." Queenie's voice was the last thing I heard before I blacked out.

_Maka's POV:_

Suddenly, before we could go more than a few feet, daggers thunked into the ground around us, and Blackstar was blown back by the most powerful Soul Force I had ever seen. Three teenagers blocked our path, one with snapping and crackling hair, and one with shiny silver nail paint. The third was silent, staring at us with wary hostility. Then "KID!? LIZ!? PATTY!? What the hell are you people _doing_ here?" the girl with shiny nails lowered her hands, staring at Kid. The others blinked and assumed a less hostile stance. "Umm, we're here to get Kage and Akuma." I said defiantly, thrusting my chin out. They all groaned. "Listen to me, you people need to scram, _now_. We'll say you ran when we first saw you. You guys are going to be roadkill if you stay any longer." The girl said, looking around nervously.

"How does Kid know you people?" Soul said, appearing on his scythe blade. They shrugged. "He was on a mission with Kage and Akuma when we ran into each other. But that's not important, now we need to-" She stopped, and the two boys whipped around to stare behind them. Faint notes were drifting towards us, getting louder every second. "Oh crap, he's started a Song resonance. Guys, run, just run. NOW!" we all automatically scrambled back a pace, but didn't go further. "We're not leaving without our friends!" Patty shouted, and we all nodded. The girl growled. "Fine. Die horribly for all I care. C'mon guys, I don't want to get blood on our clothes." They all walked away, and suddenly all the lights on the street went out. "Umm, maybe we should listen to them and get out!" Liz shouted.

"Boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange?" A shadowy shape landed next to us, then straightened, and I caught the impression of glowing red eyes. Another shape landed on our other side. "Come with us and you will see, this, our town of Halloween. This is Halloween, this is Halloween." We broke and ran. The shapes pursued us, flitting through the shadows. A blade clanged down on the pavement an inch from my face."Pumpkins scream in the dead of night." A shape darted out to block our path, and they raised a sword. "This is Halloween, everybody make a scene!" It blocked Blackstar's frantic attack, then slashed down at us, and we barely avoided the blows.

"Trick or treat till the neighbor's gonna die of fright!" They slammed the sword into the pavement, and with a shock I recognized Kage's face. Akuma melted out of the darkness beside her, and they were both grinning. "It's our town, everybody scream!" They crouched into a fighting stance. "In this town of Halloween." Akuma streaked towards us, and we barely avoided being chopped in half. "I am the one hiding under your bed, teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red!" Suddenly Kage was right behind us, grinned maniacally. "I am the one hiding under your stairs-" she moved _through_ me, and I realized with a jolt her lower body was all shadow, no body. "Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair!"

We ran away, all of us, panting and trying very hard not to scream. "This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween! Halloween, Halloween!" They followed us, slashing the pavement in their eagerness to kill. "In this town, we call home, everyone hail to the Pumpkin Soul!" We were blown off our feet from behind by some huge explosion, and landed heavily in an alley. "In this town, don't we love it now, everybody's waiting for the next surprise!" The air next to my cheek was sliced by Akuma's sword, and I rolled away. We all managed to get farther away, but we could still hear the song. "Round that corner man, hiding in the trash can, something's waiting now to pounce and how you'll SCREAM!"

Shadows on the ground suddenly bent and lunged towards us, intent on impaling our bodies. We dodged, but we still were covered in tiny cuts, and Kid wasn't even complaining, he was so scared. "This is Halloween! Red and black and slimy green!" Kage landed next to us, that terrifying grin still on her face. "Aren't you scared!?" Akuma landed opposite her. "Well that's just fine!" they said, turning towards us. "Say it once, say it twice, take a chance and roll the dice!" We broke and ran, heading for what we thought was the exit. Unfortunately, we all ran in different directions. "Ride with the moon in the dead of night!"

Kage somehow managed to get in front of me again, and I skidded to a stop. "Everybody scream! Everybody scream! In our town of Halloween!" She moved toward me, and I saw her outline begin to blur. "I am the clown with the tear-away face!" her outline was so blurred, she was just a dark shadowy shape that burst apart when she got to my face. "Here in a flash and gone without a trace!" I heard Kid and Blackstar's screams, and ran towards them. "I am the _who_ when you call _who's there_! I am the wind blowing through your hair!" I spun, facing Kage again, and ran into someone's back. I looked over my shoulder to find myself back to back with Kid and Blackstar, both of whom looked terrified. A shadow coiled off the ground, looming over our heads to form a loose shape on the ground.

"I am the shadow on the moon at night, filling your dreams to the brim with fright!" She sang, and Akuma pounded onto a roof on our other side. "This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween! Halloween, Halloween!" a shadow sliced out of the air, and slammed into my chest, driving us all back a pace. "Tender lumplings everywhere, life's no fun without a good scare!" They landed right in front of us, brandishing their swords for killing blows. "That's our job but we're not mean, in our town of Halloween!" Suddenly a gust of wind blew through the street, and they paused. "In this town, don't we love it now, everybody's waiting for the next surprise!" a different voice called, and they frowned. "Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back, and scream like a banshee make you jump out of your skin!" They backed away, grinning, and a looming presence walked out of an alley.

"This is Halloween, everybody scream, won't you please make ready for a very special guy!" they sang, perching back on the rooftops. The man ran towards us, and I saw a shadow form itself into a scythe in his hands. "Our man Jack is King of the Pumpkin Patch, everyone hail to the Pumpkin King now!" he swung, and I blocked with Soul, and an immediate grinding pressure almost drove me to my knees. "This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween! Halloween, Halloween!" I dropped, and the man's face loomed out of the darkness. He looked a lot like Professor Stein, but he was younger, with black hair, and no stitches or a bolt. "In this town, we call home..." Kage and Akuma sang, turning away from us. "EVERYONE HAIL TO THE PUMPKIN SOUL!" The man shouted, and a blast of power shot me, Kid, and Blackstar off our feet. "LA, LA, LA, LA-LA-LA, LA, LA, LA, LA-LA-LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA!" The power pounded us, and I felt my bones crunching. _Is this the end?_

_Kage's POV:_

_I WANT OUT! _I pounded on the walls of my cell. _LET ME OUT! _"Kage, give it a rest." Akuma's voice from across the hall said wearily. "They won't listen to us." I growled, sliding down the stone wall to the slimy ground. "I know, but feel what they're doing! The meisters need us!" He sighed. "Yeah, but do you know how screwed we are? We're stuck in _Queenie's_ mind." I snorted. _I'm stuck in someone's mind that's stuck in my mind. So I'm being imprisoned within my own mind prison. How wrong is that?_ "That's no excuse to sit and wait! Why would they give us our bodies back at all?"

He sighed again. "Yeah, it's pretty unlikely. They're having way too much fun crushing the life out of our friends to give us our bodies back now. So, what's your plan?" I slammed my head against the bars. "We do what we normally wouldn't dare too." He was silent for a moment, then "OH HELL NO! You are not thinking of-" I cut him off. "You got another idea? Are there even any other options?" he groaned. "No…but this is stupid." I bit my lip. "Yeah." I took a deep breath. _Shadow take, shadow steal, shadow make, shadow real._ I dissolved and drifted through the bars. I reassembled myself, praying that Queenie hadn't noticed. I walked over to Akuma's cell and sliced the bars open with his shadow.

He walked out. "So where do you think they are?" he said, rubbing his wrists. I shrugged, searching for Queenie's and DK's wavelengths. "Up. Maybe in a tower or something?" I said, opening my eyes. He nodded. "Right. Let's go have a little chat with our friends." We walked out, and I noticed the sky was blank, with no sun or moon in it at all. Everything was a shade of grey or black, with no color at all. The trees were lifeless and dead, with no leaves, and a mist hung about them in sullen swaths. A wind blew towards us, shredding the mist and kicking up a shower of dead leaves in our face. "Gloomy." I said in annoyance, brushing myself off. Akuma nodded, following me as I moved deeper into the dank forest.

There was a path, a very crooked and worn out dirt one, and we followed it. After a while, there was a slight change in the forest around us. The trees were thinning out, and stone lumps rose from the ground. I glanced at one, and winced when I saw it was a gravestone. "Queenie needs to read some interior décor magazines." Akuma said, coming up behind me silently. I nodded. Suddenly, we were in the middle of a clearing, which was dotted with more gravestones, and two figures in the _dead_ center. We walked right up to them, and I drew back a fist. "I wouldn't do that." Said a voice a lot like Akuma's. The male figure opened one eye. "After all, we might take exception."

I glared at him. "Stuff it DK. Give us our bodies back now." A pair of glasses appeared on his face, and he peered at a piece of paper in his hand. "I'm sorry, but who are you? This is appointments only young lady. Come back tomorrow after registration and I might be able to squeeze you in." I growled, wanting very badly to punch him in the gut. Akuma broke in. "Look DK, what's it gonna take to make you let us go?" He frowned, rubbing his chin. The glasses disappeared, along with the paper. "Sorry guys, but I don't run the show here. You'll have to talk to her." He jabbed his thumb at Queenie. "I would help, I really would. But-"

He shrugged helplessly. "Might makes right. And you, Akuma, are sadly lacking in might. Taking over your body is almost too easy. In fact, I have to really work at it to leave. Kage's the tough spot. If she gets free, I might be able to let you go." Akuma rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the ringing endorsement DK." He grinned at us, giving me a thumbs up. "You're very welcome. Good luck!" He closed his eyes again, frowning in concentration. Akuma's outline began to waver, as well as DK's. "That's as far as I can go." Said the blur that used to be DK. We nodded, and I got ready to face the Nightmare Queen on her home turf.

_**CLIFFHANGER **__AGAIN__**! How you all must hate me…ah heck, who cares! :D I just thought of something, the Demon King's nickname is like one of those little face things! You know, XD, DX, :), :(, etc. DK, like a yelling person, the K's the closed eyes, and the D's the mouth. Strange how I managed that, completely by accident…hmm…Oh well. Review, Request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien!**_


	10. Fear and Disgust

_**Okay, this chapter is the first one I've written up that wasn't already made when I started this fanfic. I have deadlines again. :( Heck, that didn't stop me for my Hellsing stuff, so I'll be going on ahead with this. Oh, the black-red eyes are like the people who got possessed by the enchanted sword, Tsubaki's big brother, got, you know what I'm talking about. I forgot to say this when I originally used it, but Soul Smash is like Blair's Smashing Pumpkin attack. (Based off of Down with the Sickness and Dragula AMVs)**_

_Maka's POV:_

It stopped abruptly, and I dropped to the ground, exhausted. "Aww, look at the cute little meisters." A voice said, and Kage was suddenly right in front of my face. "Do you feel their fear?" she inhaled deeply, and her eyes momentarily glowed red. Akuma landed beside her silently. "It makes my nose burn. Hurry up and eat them already." He said in disgust, kicking a rock. Kage frowned. "Why are you in such a hurry? Don't spoil my chance for the first good meal I've had in ages. I'm _starving_." Her eyes glowed red again, and I saw that they had changed from a normal green to red, with the whites of her eyes actually _black_. "Why are you doing this! Stop it guys!" I shouted and she smirked. "Hey, they haven't figured it out yet! What a bunch of idiots!" Akuma said, laughing.

Kage bent down, twirling my shadow off the ground like it was syrup. "The people you know _aren't in here anymore_." She said, tapping the side of her head. "They've gone, vanished, packed up their bags and hit the metaphorical road." She purred, stretching the shadow in her hands out until it was thin as a blade. "You're lying!" Soul shouted, and we all echoed him. Kage, or whatever was in her head now, scowled. "Well, you're all much too defiant for me to eat your souls as they are now. You need more _fear_. And I have just the thing…" she said, dropping my shadow. I watched as it pooled back towards my legs, completely unaffected by her pulling and pushing.

She backed away, and what had once been Akuma laughed suddenly, as if he found something hilarious. "Oh that's awesome! I might even get some that way!" he said, holding his hand up for a high five. Kage glared at him, and he sighed and put it down. "You have five minutes to run. If we find you, you die. If we don't, you live. Simple enough for you meisters to understand?" she said briskly, backing even further away. We all gulped, but got up and began edging away. "Fine…" I said, and we took off running.

_Nightmare Queen's POV:_

_ Idiots. They actually think they'll survive._ I watched the meisters scatter, flicking through the memories their shadows held. _Blue haired kid…ego…Reaper…symmetry? Such a strange race…losers…little noisy girl…nothing much… cursed brat…partner? It will have to do… Alright children, time to show me what you __**fear**__…_ "Shadow take, shadow steal, shadow make, shadow real…" I chanted, waving my arms and calling to the souls of the meisters. "Shadow take, shadow steal, shadow make, shadow real. Mirror Image!" Identical copies oozed out of the ground, eyes trained on the meisters. I grinned. _Such fear will rack their souls…it will be a feast._

_Multiple POVs:_

I ran, holding on tightly to Soul. _She's planning something, I just know it… _"Coward!" a voice to my left said, and I gasped, turning to a perfect copy of myself, but pitch black. "You are so scared, you have to lean on a rusty old blade to get by!" I shook my head. _Ignore it; it's just trying to break me down… _"Your father was so disgusted at what he raised that he left your mother in case he might make another of you! And she ran away from Death City rather than see your pathetic attempts at winning her heart!" It said, and I winced. "Shut up!"

I yelled, trying to run away. It grinned, following me. "Are you trying to run? From the truth, and from your own shadow? What a _loser_." It started changing as it said that, taking on Soul's face and form. "You were so weak; you let me get hacked by the DemonSword. You couldn't even recognize a real witch, so you had me attack some weird cat. You're a disgrace to your family, and your mom. Maybe I should leave you and go partner up with someone useful!" I screamed, running in the opposite direction.

I ran, trying not to summon my skateboard and zoom off. _The others need you; you can't leave on them…_ I chanted this to myself over and over, but the urge to leave was getting stronger and stronger. "Three stripes, in your hair! You're a sick abomination!" a voice in front of me spat, and I skidded to a stop, seeing my own form there, but with no lines in his hair. "Your father is so disappointed! You can't even be symmetrical yourself, but you try to hide it by copying his dress every time you can! He's disgusted by the thought of it on your unclean hide!" it spat, and I desperately tried to ignore it, but it wasn't going away. Liz yelled "Leave him alone!" the shadow turned, and I saw its features blur. "Oh, Liz. Poor, poor Liz." It said, shaking its head.

It changed into someone I didn't recognize, but Liz and Patty gasped. "You stay with this bratty rich boy? You could have as much money as you want and leave, but you insist on staying. Why? He berates you for being so unsymmetrical to your sister, the hypocrite." She said, but Liz didn't say anything. Patty whimpered. "And little Patty. Are the monsters real? Do you really think your big sister can protect you from them? She jumps every time she sees something spooky." It continued, looking at Patty's gun form. Fear was clouding my mind, making it hard to think. Patty and Liz weren't in a much better state, their souls were trembling.

I ran, trying to find the others and get out. _Where are they! Ugh, probably running scared. BUT I WON'T BACK DOWN IN FRONT OF A STUPID DEMON!_ A shape on the wall blurred, and I saw myself peel of it, but black. "What a loser." It said, and I growled. "Tsubaki, this thing wants a fight! Let's get him!" I shouted, but the next thing's words froze me in my path. "Yes, that's your standby response. Honestly, you're like a broken, loud, repetitive track record. Even your friends say so, behind your back. You're so scared of being weak you puff yourself up and act tough, even though you aren't." it said, and I growled. _Not true, not true, IT'S NOT TRUE!_ "You've lost, to like, how many people so far? The Reaper, yes, that's all. But then, you were fighting without your weapon, she's had to bail you out of every fight you've been in. The Enchanted Sword, Mifune, all of them, she's saved your sorry life."

I fell to my knees, trying not to give into the overwhelming aura of fear and despair. "Shut up." I muttered, my hands clenching tighter on Tsubaki's handles. It cackled. "Aww, look at FailStar. He's going to break down and cry like a little _baby_. What's wrong baby, lose your blanket?" it taunted, shaking with laughter. I howled with rage, but didn't attack. Its words had struck a tiny note of fear in my heart, what would it do if I attacked it? It was a _shadow_, you can't kill those.

_Kage's POV:_

"BWADOOOOOM!" A smoking crater appeared where Queenie had been standing before, and she swung the shadow back at me. I dodged, trying to avoid the tombstones and trees. "Stand still and let me silence you peacefully." She growled, whipping it back around her hand. I did a handstand on the branch as I landed, swinging back down to the ground. "Give me my body back and I might consider it!" I yelled, slamming all the shadows in my range at her body. A forest of black spears rose up around me, all arrowing straight for Queenie. She made a face and dismissed them to either side with a cross wave of her hand. "My dear, I'm getting tired of your games. LET'S END THIS!" She raised her arms, and the sky above us was blocked out as thousands of individual arrows all started heading straight for me. I gritted my teeth, ignoring them and running straight for her.  
They spiked into the ground in front of me, forcing me to move from side to side as I ran towards her still form. Shadows around her body, and then shot straight towards me, branching out more and more every second. I called on Akuma. _YOU STILL HERE ENOUGH FOR A SONG RESONANCE!?_ I felt him, waver, then agree. "Boys and girl of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange?" I called, diving into the air and twisting to avoid the shadows. "Come with us and you will see, this our town of Halloween." Akuma said, shimmering into the air in front of me.

"This is Halloween, this is Halloween. Pumpkins scream in the dead of night." We sang, as Akuma shifted into sword form. "This is Halloween, everybody make a scene, trick or treat till the neighbor's gonna die of fright!" I shouted, resonating with him and charging towards her. "It's our town, everybody scream! In this town of Halloween." Unexpectedly, we split apart, me moving one way and Akuma moving the other, shifting back to human form. "I am the one hiding under your bed, teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red!" he shouted, blasting the shadows apart with his normally weak, but now enhanced, Soul Force. I shifted my lower body to shadow form, for easier movement. "I am the one hiding under your stairs, fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair!" I sang, moving towards her at the speed of…well, not light, but shadow.

"This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween! Halloween, Halloween!" we landed on either side of her, and prepared for a devastating twin Soul Force. "In this town, we call home, everyone hail to the Pumpkin Soul!" she staggered back, overwhelmed by our double hit. "In this town, don't we love it now; everybody's waiting for the nest surprise!" Akuma said, slashing her back with a shifted arm. She didn't seem affected at all, and the shadows we were trying to avoid in the sky were getting closer every second. "Round that corner man, hiding in the trash can, something's waiting now to pounce and how you'll SCREAM!" I shouted, slamming into her stomach with a tackle, as well as hitting her with my Soul Force.

"This is Halloween, red and black and slimy green!" I sang, pummeling her with my own, smaller shadows as well as the ever present Soul Force. "Aren't you scared?" Akuam said, pulling me away just as they exploded outwards, impaling themselves on the trees and sliding down to the ground. "Well that's just fine! Say it once, say it twice, take a chance and roll the dice!" I shouted, charging towards her and slashing the shadows away with my very own, and stabbing them with blades projecting from my hands. "Ride with the moon in the dead of night!" I said, jumping up and getting ready to hit her with a Soul Smash. "EVEYBODY SCREAM!" she was crouching, but not giving into the Soul Smash. "Everybody scream! In our town of Halloween!" Akuma sang, whirling in from nowhere in weapon form and slicing her back.

"I am the clown with the tear away face, here in a flash and gone without a trace." I sang, vanishing into thin air and slamming into Queenie invisibly. "I am the _who_ when you call _who's there_, I am the wind blowing through your hair." Akuma said, copying me and slamming into her from a different direction. "I am the shadow on the moon at night, filling your dreams to the brim with fright!" I shouted, appearing above her and hitting her with another Soul Smash. "This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween! Halloween, Halloween!" Suddenly, I was lifted up and slammed against a tree, and I dimly realized those shadows she summoned had finally arrived. Sadly, there was a teensy tiny problem. _You can't stop a full Song Resonance until the song's done._ "Tender _lumplings_ everywhere, _life's_ no _fun_ without a good scare." I sang, being slammed against the tree, the ground, and several other trees before the shadow impaling me through my middle slipped out.

"That's our job, but we're not mean, in our town of Halloween." We sang, as I propped myself up on my elbows, seeing Akuma in the same state. "In this town, don't we love it now; everybody's waiting for the next surprise!" He sang, eyes burning with anger as he shakily stood up. A tiny grin was fixed on his bloody face, and I was grinning too. _We've both missed this._ "Skeleton Jack might get you in the back, and scream like a banshee make you jump out of your skin!" we sang, slamming into the shadows a few inches from Queenie's irritated face. "This is Halloween, everybody scream, won't you please make ready for a very special guy!" I sliced deeply into her forearm, and she winced. We were hacking into her now like a pair of crazed butchers, grinning psychotically. "Our man Jack is King of the Pumpkin patch, everyone hail to the Pumpkin King now!"

She battered us into a tombstone taller than all the rest, slamming us into it again and again. "This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween! Halloween, Halloween!" We sang, still grinning, choking a bit as blood spurted through our open lips. "In this town, we call home-" She was inches in front of my face, ready to slam a shadow into my gut and end it once and for all. "EVERYONE HAIL TO THE PUMPKIN SOUL!" I screamed, stabbing her with my hand, which had just turned into a razor-sharp, black blade. "LA, LA, LA, LA-LA-LA, LA, LA, LA, LA-LA-LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA!" we sang, as power surged, then faded around us, and my sight went dark.

_Maka's POV:_

Suddenly the shadow-me-Soul dissolved, and I heard a howl of rage. I sighed, and tightened my tie, running off to find Blackstar and Kid. I spotted Kid on the ground, curled up in a ball and whimpering. I tapped his shoulder. "Not symmetrical, I was right the whole time, father does hate my guts." He said, slurring it all together in his panic. I saw a hand reach down and yank him up, and was shocked to see Kage, looking a bit more tired, but otherwise fine, and more importantly, sane, holding his collar and yanking his face close to hers. "It was all lies." She growled, shaking him hard. "Lies something made up to scare you!" he stared at her, but thankfully stopped sobbing.

'C'mon Akuma, let's find the rest of the idiots." She snarled, draping Kid's arm over her shoulder and hauling him to his feet. Akuma walked by me, picking up Liz and Patty and shoving them in Kid's pockets. "HEY! Wait a minute; you guys need to explain a few things!" I said, putting my hand on my hip and shouldering Soul. They both glared at me. "Would you prefer that to be before we're discovered and killed, or after?" Kage said sweetly, narrowing her eyes. "Or should we just listen to the only people who _haven't_ nearly gotten themselves killed ten times tonight already?" I bit my lip and looked away. She grunted in satisfaction and walked off, seemingly looking for Blackstar's soul.

We found him kneeling on the ground, apparently in conflict about something. "Up bro!" Akuma said, kicking him gently. "We need the Blackstar we all know and love, not a stupid silent one." Blackstar looked up at him; them shouted and got to his feet. "Yahoo! Where were you guys! You probably got lost without me! You guys couldn't find your own feet if it wasn't for me!" Kage rolled her eyes and continued silently towards the gate. A living, moving, or whatever, skeleton wobbled out from behind it, frowning, or at least as much as skeletons could. "Meisters?" it said disapprovingly, looking at Kage and Akuma. "Friends." Kage said, shifting Kid's arm on her back. The skeleton shook its skull slowly. "You've made some enemies in your time, but making friends with meisters? You'll hunted, young ones."

Kage and Akuma, startlingly, laughed. "That's as normal as far as we're concerned." Kage said, tossing her head. "Miss you Skull. Tell the others?" it nodded. "Miss you Kage. Cursed meet." Kage and Akuma bowed their heads. "Cursed part." They all said at once "Dead we meet again." We walked out of the entrance in silence, which lasted until we were across the field and into the forest. "So…you guys know a skeleton?" Soul said, flashing back to human form. Kage and Akuma snorted. "Yes, along with several dozen ghosts, Kishin, and pretty much any and all types of the undead. We get around." Kage said, letting Kid go experimentally, then sighing and helping him up. "That reminds me…can you all stand in a line?" She said, and we all assembled, even the weapons. Kid still had to be propped up on Liz. Kage moved forward and slapped us all across the cheek, scowling.

"YOU DAMN IDIOTS! WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU COME _HERE_, OF ALL PLACES!?" she screamed at us, obviously in a towering rage. I gulped. "What the hell! We came to help you guys!" Blackstar said, nursing his wounded cheek. Kage sighed, pinching her nose. "The sign didn't even register with you people, did it? What do you think it was for, decoration?" she growled, still pissed at us. We all shrugged sheepishly. "We thought they were exaggerating…" Tsubaki said meekly, rubbing her upper arm. Kage screeched in frustration, slamming her head into the trunk of a nearby tree. "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! YOU PEOPLE _ARE_ JUST AS DUMB AS JACK SAYS!"

"When you were…singing…you mentioned a "Skeleton Jack". Was he that skeleton you talked to earlier?" Soul said, making air quotes as he said "Skeleton Jack". Akuma snorted and Kage stopped banging her head against the tree and stared at us. "My god, they are that stupid…" she whispered, obviously in shock. "Okay, our life in a few sentences." She said, walking off into the trees so fast we all had to jog to keep up. "We were born in that town as Nightstalker, which you may or may not have heard of, if you have, shut up about it around everyone else, it's not something you should talk about." She said briskly, sliding through the underbrush without a sound.

"We have the three part souls and everything, so don't ask. About around the time of our sixth birthday, we got kicked out for reasons I won't explain now, suffice to say, we hate Jack's guts. When we were possessed, did you see a man, dark hair, looks like Stein when he's in a "crazy dissection mode", creepy grin, and stuff like that?" I nodded. "He almost killed us." Kage nodded. "Well that's him. Skeleton Jack, controller of _the_ Pumpkin King. Head of the Nightstalker, and one heck of a crazy creep." She growled, obviously not a fan. "You know the whole bit about pumpkins on the sign, and the architecture, and that statue above the gate?" Akuma said, interrupting her. Tsubaki nodded. "Yes." They both sighed. "That's him. He's sorta a cross between Lord Death and a god to the Nightstalker, everything we do has something with him. Even our building style."

Blackstar blinked. "Do you worship him as much as you worship me?" he said, clearly convinced that we did, in fact, worship him. Kage and Akuma shook their heads violently. "Heck no!" Kage said loudly, shuddering. "You saw Jack, do you think we'd worship _anything _that had to do with him?" She said in disgust, rubbing her upper arms. "Wait, what does that guy have to do with this Pumpkin King guy?" Kid said dazedly, rubbing his forehead. Kage rolled her eyes. "You know how the DemonSword is fused to that Ragnarok thing? They're fused like that, only their souls are fused, not their actual bodies. The Pumpkin King hasn't had his own body in, well…never." Akuma said, keeping his eyes ahead on the trail.

_**Ouchie! My hand hurts from all this frantic typing! But, I've done my bit for today, no more writing required by self-law today. *Sighs in satisfaction and shakes hand out again* Listening to Soul eater AMVs, Vocaloid, and writing for my fanfics at the end of the school year! Life is good…*sighs happily* Who knows what Vocaloid is? Okay, maybe you know the songs, in Japanese, Trick and Treat, Alice Human Sacrifice, Black Cats of the eve/ Black cats of Halloween, ringing any bells here? (I only know those three; I haven't bothered to listen to any of the others) Okay…I don't know if this helps, because I don't know exactly who these two are, except for the fact they're Vocaloid characters…Rin and Len? Bells rung yet? You know what, I don't really care if anyone knows what I'm talking about, people rarely do anyway. Review, Request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien!**_


	11. Fight, then Flight

_**LAST FRIDAY OF THE SCHOOL YEAR! I is a happy freak… and, guess what, next Wednesday I'm going to ValleyFair! So pumped! My friends are kinda making fun of me, in a good way, because I laugh on rides. No, not a giggle, more like…well, I tell you the example they used:**_

_**Me: "HEHEHEHEHEHHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE…"**_

_**Person sitting next to me on ride: "Umm…are you okay?"**_

_**Me: "Hehehehehehehehehehehehehe…what? Oh yeah, totally fine…heeheehee"**_

_**Person: "Umm, hello?" *turns to ride operator* "Should she be on this ride?"**_

_**Me: "Hehehehehehehehehehehehehe" *thinks* **__Ugh, what a wimp! I can't wait to hear them SCREAM! __**"Hehehehehehehehe."**_

_**Yeah, I laugh like a homicidal maniac on rides that I really like. *shrugs sheepishly* Seriously, you should have heard me on the Power Tower at my Thirteen b-day party. My friends said I sounded like a cross between the Joker and Jack Skellington (Nightmare before Xmas). Meh, who cares? I had fun! The wrist blades are like what Maka has in the last episode, or that one Crona made with his blood in the episode where Maka goes crazy.(Based off of the Not one of us AMV, I'm kinda getting desperate)**_

_Kage's POV:_

_ Well this is a bad day for us. Let's see, we just ruined Jack's plans, were seen with meisters, and "killed" Queenie._ I leaned against our new apartment door, completely wiped. _If I get through tonight without a single bad dream, or an attack, I will go kiss Jack and live in Excalibur's cave for the rest of my life._ "So, on the scale of one to ten, how badly are we screwed right now?" Akuma said, collapsing on the couch. I groaned, rubbing my forehead. "Thirty-seven, if not fifty. The only people who are not howling for our blood right now are the witches, and DWMA, and after tonight, when the others report in, it'll just be the witches." I said, wishing I had a gun handy to shoot myself with and get it all over. He studied his nails, completely at ease. "What do you think we should do?" he said, shooting me a calm glance. I took a deep breath.

"We can do the right thing, or run like heck. Your opinion?" He went back to picking at his nails. "Remind me what the right thing is again?" I trailed a finger over our school binders. "Show up and take what they punish us with. If they try to kill us, then run like heck." He sighed, putting his hands behind his head and staring at the ceiling. "Damn, I don't know. Umm…okay, this may sound crazy, but I think we should show up." I threw him a shocked look. "SAY WHAT!?" He glanced at me sidelong. "What? There's only a 99.9 percent chance the Reaper will want us dead, so we take the .1 percent. I hate to admit it, but I'm a gambler, just like DK. All or nothing." He said, standing up and walking over to the kitchen.

I rubbed my chin, considering the options. _So, we either show up, and maybe, but probably not, not die, or we run, and have every powerful society out there hunting us down, all at once, since Jack'll probably convert the witches to his side. Even we can't stay hidden that long, eventually someone would nail us. Damn._ "Fine!" I said loudly in Akuma's direction. "We stay, but only to see what's in store for us, and to say goodbye to the meisters." He stuck his head back into the living room, grinning. "Excellent! Now help me fix an after midnight snack, we need energy to be hated and run for our lives!"

_Lord Death's POV:_

"Can there be any doubt?" I said, twiddling my thumbs. Stein shook his head. "Both of them have to be Demonmeisters, there's no other explanation for their sudden mood swing. I sighed. "Such a promising pair! What should we do about them?" Death Scythe and Stein both shook their heads. "They must be eradicated, completely. They're too dangerous to be left alive." Death Scythe said reluctantly, rubbing the back of his head. Stein nodded, silently. I sighed again. "Well, what must be done, must be done. Who will bring them in?" Stein shrugged. "Spirit and myself, I guess." I nodded. "Be careful, if these Demonmeisters are all I've been reading they are, you're in for a nasty fight."

_Kage's POV:_

I whistled happily as I skipped through the halls. It was almost sad, how happy I was to possibly be on the run again. _No more homework, no more rules, just me and Akuma roughing it against the world! I suppose Queenie and DK are roughing it with us, but since they're both dead, they don't really count as such._ Akuma gave me an ironic solute, grinning ear to ear. "I can't wait." He whispered, giving me a thumbs up. I rolled my eyes, returning the gesture. _Honestly, it's a bit creepy how pumped we are for this. We should be sad, we're leaving our friends and not only that, we're going to be attacked by our teachers. We should be bawling our eyes out! But no, we're skipping along the halls like newly minted Death Scythes!_ Surprisingly, DK's head popped through the wall on my right. _That's because it's in your blood to whip meisters and weapons. You're spoiling for a fight, and your blood-lust is up._

Akuma snorted silently. _DK, that's the first even mildly sane comment I've ever heard pass your lips._ He grinned at the both of us, melting away. "Hey guys!" I heard Maka say, and saw her and the whole gang run up to us. "Hey." We said neutrally, waving. Kid got sparkles in his eyes. "Perfect symmetry!" he cooed, and we all rolled our eyes. I stared at Akuma. "Now that someone's said something, it is kinda scary how in sync we are." I said thoughtfully, studying his face. He poked my shoulder, and we all laughed. "So what's our punishment from Lord Death?" I said, almost slipping up and saying "the Reaper" like normal. They all looked away, blushing.

"C'mon guys, don't feel guilty!" I said, stepping forward and giving them a group hug. "You had to turn us in, we almost killed you all! No offense, but I would have done it without a second thought!" They all shuffled their feet, blushing deeper, and Maka said shyly "You aren't mad at us then?" I rolled my eyes, pointing at Akuma. "If anyone should be mad, it's you people. We _did _almost kill you." They all nodded gratefully, and Akuma tensed. I felt it too, a hostile shadow-soul, two, closing in on us. _Stein and Spirit. How unoriginal._ Akuma thought at me, and I thought my agreement back. "Oh, there you two are!" I heard a voice behind us, and turned to see Stein standing there, fakey looking smile pasted on his face. I raised an eyebrow. "Hello Professor Stein, is there anything we can help you with?" I said, getting ready to move fast if necessary.

"Umm, yes, there is. Could you come this way for me?" he said, pointing outside. I nodded, moving out, readying my shade-wings spell in my mind. Maka and the others shouted their goodbyes, turning to get into class. Once we were outside, Stein lit a cigarette, waving his hand for Spirit to come over. He transformed, and Akuma automatically did the same. "So…you two are going to punish us for what happened last night?" I said carefully, tightening my grip on him. Stein sighed. "Frankly, no." he moved so fast even I had no chance of fully avoiding the blow, aiming for my neck. I barely parried with Akuma, sliding out of the way, and even so, the blade sliced deep into my shoulder, right on top of my brand. I hissed in pain from the old wound, and moved, clanging my blade against Stein's and forcing him back.

"You're going to kill us then?" I said, clutching the wound with my right hand. Stein grinned. "Yes. You are not going to be spreading your influence with us any more, I'm afraid." Much to his surprise, we both started laughing. I actually stabbed one of Akuma's swords into the ground, wiping at one eye. "Damn!" I said, still rocking with laughter. "I actually thought you guys would try the more noble approach, after all, you _are_ the DWMA, you might show mercy. But no, you're just like the rest." Akuma appeared on the sword blades, grinning and showing his slightly sharper teeth than he normally had, which set off alarm bells in my mind. "We were actually planning on taking whatever you wanted to punish us with, but you trying to _kill_ us?" he said, chuckling. "We can't have that. Do you even have the slightest idea what we're capable of?"

I smirked, pulling his blade out of the ground. "We'll just have to show the meisters how it's done, unless you guys were going to let us leave peacefully?" I said, watching Stein. He shook his head, and we both grinned. "Excellent. Akuma?" I said, lifting him up slightly. He appeared on the blade again, grinning. "Present and accounted for. Should we bother them, or do you think we can handle this?" I sighed, waving him back and forth. "We might as well. They will help anyway, whether we want them too or not." He nodded, shifting do he was only on one sword blade. I grinned, holding them apart. "Alright guys, from the top! Let's do this!" DK appeared on the reverse sword, smirking. "OH MEISTERS!" he shouted, letting his bangs cover his face. Stein and Spirit went on guard, but DK didn't do anything. My true soul appeared, pulsing orange and wreathed with shadows. The clan symbol was plastered across the side, deep black and threatening.

It grew larger as Akuma's souls fed into it, and Stein's soul appeared in challenge. Ours was a _lot_ bigger. I grinned recklessly, already savoring the fight to come. "Boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange?" I sang, dragging DK's sword across my arm, watching the thin line of blood well up and trail to the ground. He and Akuma appeared on the swords, grinning. "Come with us and you will see, this our town of Halloween." They sang, and I brandished them, glaring at our target. "This is Halloween, this is Halloween. Pumpkins scream in the dead of night!" I hurled DK at Stein, and he barely avoided him as he went spinning back, boomeranging towards me. I caught him, and in an extension of the same movement, swung Akuma at them, and his tip buried in the ground right where Stein's head would have been if he hadn't moved. "This is Halloween, everybody make a scene, trick or treat till the neighbor's gonna die of fright!"

I made a jerking motion with my empty hand and he soared back, landing neatly in my palm. "It's our town, everybody scream! In this town of Halloween." I streaked towards them, readying a spell in my mind. "I am the one hiding under your bed; teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red!" Akuma suddenly transformed, catching me and DK and swinging us at Stein's head. Expecting an entirely different opponent, he was caught off guard and barely managed to save his head from being detached. "I am the one hiding under your stairs, fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair!" I shouted, whipping back to human form as I jumped over Steins back, managing to gnash his shoulder deeply. "This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween! Halloween, Halloween!"

We landed on the ground, but I launched myself at Stein's unguarded back immediately. "In this town, we call home, everyone hail to the Pumpkin Soul!" I hit him as hard as I could, as fast as I could, not giving him a chance to adjust his wavelength. "In this town, don't we love it now; everybody's waiting for the next surprise!" Akuma sang, shifting into human form long enough to slash Stein's chest deeply, sending a spray of blood outwards. "Round that corner man, hiding in the trash can, something's waiting now to pounce and how you'll SCREAM!" We both hit him at once with blades that extended from our wrists, stabbing into his abdomen. "This is Halloween, red and black and slimy green!"

I landed on the ground, catching Akuma and DK. "Aren't you scared?" I sang, grinning at Stein as he choked, spitting up a mouthful of blood. _Pretty red blood…_ "Well that's just fine!" I shouted, running at him, bringing Akuma up to slice his throat. He blocked, barely. "Say it once, say it twice, take a chance and roll the dice!" I was pounding on his defense now, but he was still holding up. "Ride with the moon in the dead of night!" I hammered Death Scythe down, lunging for Stein's unprotected throat. He hacked downwards blinding, sinking the blade deep into my other shoulder, and I grinned as it lodged in the bone. "Everybody scream! Everybody scream!" I sang as he tried to yank it out, and succeeded, barely. "In our town of Halloween."

I shifted suddenly, vanishing into the shadows completely. He glanced around, holding Death Scythe ready. "I am the clown with the tear-away face, here in a flash and gone without a trace!" I was playing with him now, leaving tiny wounds and shallow cuts that would bleed and sting, but not kill. Suddenly Akuma's arms wrapped around his body, pinning his arms to his sides and immobilizing Death Scythe. "I am the _who _when you call _who's there_, I am the wind blowing through your hair!" he sang, jerking back to avoid what he knew was coming.

"I am the shadow on the moon at night, filling your dreams to the brim with fright!" I sang, stabbing him through the chest with my wrist blades, and then transferring my Soul Force to those and shocking him. The pain must have been unbearable. "This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween! Halloween, Halloween!" We sang, and he unexpectedly blew us all off with a Soul Force. I slammed into a concrete wall, grinning as blood spurted out my mouth. "Tender lumplings everywhere, life's no fun without a good scare." We pouted as we both stood up, Akuma holding DK. "That's our job but we're not mean, in our town of Halloween." I sang, joining Akuma as we stood side by side. He grinned.

"In this town, don't we love it now, everybody's waiting for the next surprise!" he shouted, and transformed so I could hold on to him. Shadows began to whip around us like mist in a breeze, and the swords were glowing red. "Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back, and scream like a banshee make you jump out of your skin!" We called, seeing the shadows from into a monstrous shape. It silently ran at Stein, who was bleeding badly. "This is Halloween, everybody scream, won't you please make ready for a very special guy!" We all sang, keeping our eyes fixed on the apparition. He slammed into Stein; who literally bent back from the force of the blow. "Our man Jack is King of the Pumpkin Patch, everyone hail to the Pumpkin King now!" He was pounding Stein, badly, but the creepy Professor wasn't dead yet. "This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween! Halloween, Halloween!"

He collapsed, and the figure turned to us. He was pitch black form head to toe, and had a Pumpkin instead of a normal head. "In this town, we call home…" we sang, grabbing onto our souls tightly. "Everyone hail to the Pumpkin Soul!" It finished, stretching its arms out to us in a beckoning gesture, and we felt the pull on our wavelengths. _Resist…such power…resist…_ "LA, LA, LA, LA-LA-LA, LA, LA, LA, LA-LA-LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA!" we screamed, feeling our soul's drain from our bodies. I felt the nearly audible snap that meant we had gone too far, but was too caught up in the song and the pain to notice anything. It vanished, and I was barely able to conjure up a pair of wings to get us out of there. As we were flying off, I heard a mournful cry, and turned slightly to see Kid staring after us, a betrayed look on his face. I winced, then shook my head, jerking it around to focus on our course. _He's a Reaper. He does not belong with us, no matter how nice he is. No matter what he thinks, he does not want to be our friends. They die on us too often._

_**Another cliffhanger, but I was lazy and kinda didn't work on this much. *hangs head* I was watching Black Butler, because I wanted to see if it was any good. Hehe, sorry. But I got the chapter up! Imagine not having the before info, even if it is a mean way to end it! Three reviewer people, Guest, Great Zero, and kirbylovespie. Hey guys! More than I got at this point than my Hellsing one, I think. Yeah…I only had flameslavier, and xVentressx, and drizzt reviewed sometime around when I published my thirteenth chapter, I think! (Not sure, it's been a while) Heck, who knows? Yay, Great Zero, you watched Hellsing like you said! Two things, one, how far are you, and two, if you understand everyone, you can go ahead and read my fanfic, it's after OVA. You may not get a few minor details, but if you get everyone's character things, you can go ahead and start reading. (You probably should finish the OVA, just for finality's sake) Thanks for being so supportive! Review, Rcomment, Request. Auf Wedersien! **_

_**PS: yes, I did mess with your heads right there. I switched them! XD**_


	12. Road Trip on Air, Ground, and City?

_**Okay then, let's get this started! Question for you people, what's the mental image you get when you think of DK? I'm just kinda curious…and the only really cemented thing I have said about him is that he's got those creepy red-black eyes. *shrugs* Eh, who cares? Bet you're all waiting for the meisters to run after them, ya? They will…eventually…*cackles evilly* (I may have used this one before, but based off a On my Own AMV)**_

_Kage's POV:_

I cocked my head, listening hard. _Nope, nothing. Just your over-active imagination._ Said my mind, but my instincts were screaming. _GET OUT OF THERE, SOMETHINGS COMING!_ In my line of work, I find it more profitable to listen to instinct. "AKUMA!" I screamed, jumping up and landing in a tree. He landed beside me, frowning. "Let's go, its witches this time." He panted, holding a cut on his arm. I nodded, and chanted my mantra, creating some shadow wings for us. We flew off, as a burst of magic hurled towards us, bird and bat witches attacking us, and the others following on broomsticks. I made a sharp right turn, slicing through the air towards them. "DON'T MESS WITH ME!" I screamed, whipping around and cutting deeply into the leaders, my wings the very definition of razor sharp.

The fell silently in a spray of blood, as the survivors swerved around, circling us fifty feet in the air. Normally, we would have just outflown them, but this particular group had been plaguing us for a few weeks, and they deserved a lesson. "Shadow take, shadow steal, shadow make, shadow real." I chanted, but nothing happen visibly, which made the witches edge closer. "Shadow take, shadow steal, shadow make, shadow real. Cat 'o nines!" I shouted, and suddenly my "nails" were much, much longer, and black. I whipped my hand up, and the wire-thin strands of shadow arched towards the witches, decapitating several, and causing the other to fall screaming as their brooms were chopped to kindling. I spun, holding my arms horizontal to my body, and the air within several dozen feet became a whirling tornado of thin shadow strands, all sharp, all deadly. All the witches in that range instantly became somewhat less than mincemeat, falling to the ground in a shower of blood.

They other screamed, vomited, or yelled insults, depending on their nature, backing away quickly. I whipped a hand at them, and several dozen shadow strands shot towards them, neatly decapitating all but one, very young and very scared, witch. She stammered incoherently, backing away from us on her broom. I snorted silently as turned around, flying back to Akuma, who was smirking. We flew off, side by side, looking for a more accommodating place to stay for the next two days.

_Death the Kid's POV:_

"So how is he Doctor Medusa?" Liz said, leaning against the wall. We were all sitting in the waiting room, in various states of shock. Stein and Death Scythe had been carried in, bleeding heavily. Maka and Soul were talking quietly about something, and Blackstar was even being mostly silent, proclaiming his godliness in a much quieter tone than usual. Tsubaki was worried, constantly pacing. Liz was picking at her nails, and Patty was drawing on a piece of homework, something yellow, probably a giraffe. My thoughts were lost in the way Kage had looked back a split second before flying off, shock and recognition showing briefly in her eyes, before veiling them with a mask of indifference. _Why did they not finish him off? Why did they even fight him? What's going on here!?_

"Lord Death wants a full report, so Kid, come in here please." She said, removing her stethoscope. I walked in, seeing Stein and Death Scythe sitting up, but still looking pale from blood loss. "What happened?" I said, putting my hands on my hips. Stein looked annoyed. "Lord Death sent us to deal with the two Nightstalker. They were…unexpectedly strong." He said finally, avoiding my furious look. We both knew what "dealing with" meant, and it made me mad. "Why!? They were on our side, they didn't do anything, why!?" I shouted, glaring at the both of them. Stein coughed. "They attacked you without warning or reason, that's a good one for attacking them back. Anyway, on to our report."

He took a deep breath, and began. "The two Nightstalker seemed complacent, until we attempted to kill them. Kage moved with the fastest reflexes I've ever seen, avoiding my blow almost completely. They then seemed to enter a conversation with themselves, asking if they should bother "them", which I assumed were their demons. Something with the appearance of another Akuma showed on his opposite blade, and then they attacked. They entered into a Song resonance, and to my surprise, were suddenly capable of many things almost physically impossible for just two people to accomplish. Their combined souls were huge, and furthermore, Kage and Akuma could fully access their opposite souls with Akuma wielding Kage and her becoming a weapon, several times."

I blinked. _B-but that's impossible!_ He continued. "They moved so fast, it was next to impossible to track their next blow. As you can see, it didn't end well for us. I managed to land a few blows here and there, and once I actually lodged Spirit in her collar bone, but she didn't even react, except to smile. In fact, just before the end, I slammed them all into walls or the ground, and they just laughed, like maniacs. Blood poured out of their mouths, but they just laughed. Hmm, they must be interesting specimens…" he shook his head rapidly, trying to focus. "Never mind. Anyway, they seemed to try and pull off their most powerful attack, which involved something that looked a lot like Lord Death, actually, but with a pumpkin head." I tensed. _Pumpkin head? But they said they hated him… _"It was extremely powerful, and I was laid out after a few blows. But-"

He paused to wince and take a deep breath. "I was still conscious when I something interesting. The creature, after defeating me, turned to the Nightstalker and appeared to suck their wavelengths out, rather painfully if I saw correctly. There, I'm done talking for now." He closed his eyes and relaxed, looking like he fell asleep instantly. I walked out, wrapped in my own little thoughts, so it was a bit of a surprise when I came to the Death Room's door.

_Kage's POV:_

We landed neatly, and the spell dissolved. I pushed aside a flap of cardboard and huddled in the box, with Akuma pressed close to me, wet and miserable. The rain was pouring down now, soaking the edges of the box, and I sneezed quietly. The healing scar on my shoulder throbbed with every breath, and my depleted wavelength did not help things. Still it was better than what I felt a few weeks ago…

_***Flashback***_

_ I landed, sweat and blood combing to assault my nose, shadows curling around me in an attempt to help their mistress. I waved them off tiredly, wincing as the wounds in both shoulders flared. My soul wavelength was almost nonexistent, and only my extreme endurance kept me from collapsing on the ground, too weak to move. Akuma laid a hand on my left shoulder and I braced myself. His Soul Force flared throughout my entire body, dispelling any lasting pull the Pumpkin King had put on me. I did the same for him, and we crawled to a cave, hoping that it would be hidden from human predators. Animal ones did not concern us at that point._

_***End Flashback***_

We had already settled back into our old routine, eating at whatever place there was a dumpster, never staying in one spot for two days, never staying in the city for more than five days. Make random side trips, and double back every few times. So far, it had worked, and only three groups of witches, fourteen Kishin, and one meister had attacked us. The meister was one we didn't know, and it was fairly easy to brush them off relatively unharmed. The Kishin were all fairly easy to take down, and the witches likewise. Queenie and DK had been placated with several dozen souls, witch and Kishin, and made snide comments only occasionally. So our only headaches were being attacked and staying hidden. It was almost a vacation.

I sighed, leaning back against the dumpster we had been eating out of the past 24 hours. "We need a quiet spot where absolutely nobody will look for us." I said, flicking my lighter on and off. "We'll stay there for a couple weeks as rest." Akuma nodded, tugging the hood of his sweatshirt down as some roughs staggered past us. I put my lighter to my mouth, touching it to what would look like a cigarette, but was not at all hazardous to my health. I inhaled and blew out some smoke, and they all sort of shrugged and staggered back to wherever they had crawled form. I stuck my lighter in my pocket and dangled the dud cigar from my fingers, blowing out another stream of "smoke" in the shape of a pumpkin. Cool trick I can do. "Any ideas?"

Akuma shrugged, lighting up a dud cigar of his own. He didn't feel the need to blow fake smoke, so he just nibbled on the end, wiggling the glowing end of the stick back and forth. "No ideas, that's your forte. What the meisters don't know, the witches do, and what the witches don't, the meisters do. And we both aren't going to a place only Nightstalker know, that's just stupid. Jack knows much more than we do about those kinds of places anyway." He said, shoving his hands in his pockets and staring at the moon. We watched as another group of stoned adults staggered by with hooded eyes. They also glanced at us, which was the reason we were both "smoking".

We were in the shadows, partly, and we leaning against the alley wall like we owned it, watching people with eyes like a predatory hawk's. We were both smoking, a hardcore thing for teens to do, which argued that we didn't care much for rules. All in all, our vibe said "mugger-mob-pickpocket-don't-mess-with-me". Just like we wanted it. Nobody was stupid enough to try anything with people like that, and meisters were the only ones who might even give them a glace as enemies. Witches? They wouldn't even notice us. Nightstalker? Unless we were obviously flaunting the fact of our souls, they might do no more than try the whistle at us. If we didn't respond, they'd move on, knowing we didn't have any association with Nightstalker.

So, for about the next hour or so, we were as safe as safe could get for two kids on the run from DWMA, Witches, and Nightstalker. I heaved a sigh of relief, blowing out another pumpkin smoke cloud. I thought hard, trying to think of a spot where nobody would go, right mind or otherwise. _Not Excalibur's cave, we've already been there…__**not**__ the Grand Market, that's too open, and Jack could get in and drag us out if he was really desperate…so…nothing. WAIT! That's perfect! If we can pull it off…_ I threw my dud cigarette down on the ground, shouldering my backpack and moving out of the alley shadows. Akuma, startled, did the same, asking "So? Where are we headed?" I grinned, preparing the shadow wings spell in my mind. "DWMA grounds, and the one place absolutely nobody would ever look for us."

_**What madness is this!? I'm not going to tell you. :P You will have to wait until next chapter. All shall be explained soon, or never, depending on what you want explained. Please ask, I live to answer all your strange questions. Seriously, I have planned everything out, so go ahead and ask! Well, I planned out what the absolute basic of basic plotline shall be and other than that, wing it for every chapter. Not joking, I sit down and start typing where the last chapter left off every day, and try to squeeze in what I want in chronological order, since I am following the anime plotline. Yay for winging it! :D Hehe, sorry. *shrugs* Anyway, Auf Wedersien! Review, Request, Rcomment.**_

_**PS: Yes, I switched it around again to see if you're paying attention.**_


	13. ASYMETRICAL!

_**GOTT IM HIMMEL! I've been swarmed by reviewers! Thanks guys! :D Okay so, answers. Medusa Gorgon789, I have to kill her at least once, because I'm sticking to the anime plotline. Sorry, I think she's kinda cool too. I used to hate her guts, but now I reserve most of my gut-hating for Noah. For those of you who haven't the slightest idea what I'm talking about, he's a character in the manga they don't put in the anime. Okay, major spoilers for manga, right here, don't read if you don't want to know! **__Soul turns into a Death Scythe after eating Arachne's soul, and Maka has a Grigori soul, which basically means she can fly, Blackstar kills Mifune, and Kid gets kidnapped by a creepy character called Noah. Justin Law turns traitor and joins Asura, and kills BJ, and Crona leaves and doesn't come back, and eats Asura, and replaces him, after brutally killing Medusa for the second time. Noah tortures Kid, and he goes crazy for (and who guessed it) symmetry, and wants to destroy the world so everything will be nonexistent, therefore symmetrical. (He's fine, he turns sane again) Kim (that girl with pink hair and the lantern weapon that Ox likes), is a witch, and a whole mess of other stuff.__** Okay, spoilering done. Oh, .3, I know I haven't been doing the mushy stuff the past few chapters; I'll try and fix that. (Romance is just not my style, I have to be reminded to put it in) Black-haired, slim, and creepy? Yeah…like a sort of Soul-slender man with black hair…dang, that is creepy! (That may not be the mental image you had, but that's what I got from it) Emma-sempai, you didn't have anything I can answer, but as a grand shout-out to all the people who asked this, I do post new chapters every day, unless I have a writer's block. (Thankfully, that hasn't happened yet, but I don't want to jinx myself) Or if I have anything to do that day, like go to a parade or meeting, which has delayed me twice in past fanfics. (Based off of a World so cold AMV)**_

_Kage's POV:_

"DIE!" I shouted, flinging a strip of shadow at my opponent. Her avoided it, grinning, and threw a sword at my face. I caught it and swung it back, barely missing his legs as he dodged. "Come on! More aim, less anger!" He shouted, landing on it and smirking at me. I growled. "More fight, less flee!" I shouted back, cutting the sword out from under him with a shadow. He jumped up, landing on the wall and facing me. He leered at me, grinning and completely ignoring the laws of physics and gravity. "Come on Kage; am I so hot you can't bear to hack my handsome face?" DK said teasingly, making a face at me. I snarled and slammed a shadow into said face, and he laughed. I sighed and backed away, sitting on the tiled ground. Akuma plopped down beside me, panting. DK flipped off the wall, landing in front of the both of us. "Aww, look at the cute couple." He said, making a frame with his fingers and peering at us through it. Akuma looked up at him. "Can it already DK."

He smirked, turning to me. "Some people don't appreciate fine humor." He said loftily, looking down his nose at me. I glared at him. "Step in front of a moving train you creep." He faked a look of hurt. "Hey! Just because I'm indestructible doesn't mean that wouldn't hurt you meanie!" he wailed, running away into the shadows. I lay back on the floor, looking at the vaulted ceiling of the underground tunnel. "Is he getting weirder and weirder every day, or is it just me?" I asked the air, and Akuma snorted. "That's completely normal for him." He said wearily, falling back beside me. I glanced at him. "How do you know?" He raised his eyebrows, looking at me skeptically. "I live every second of my life with him shouting something in my head, remember?"

I shrugged. "True. But admit it, this was a really good idea." He rolled over, staring apprehensively at the entrance. "Yeah, I guess. But how do we know none of the meisters are going to come down here?" I sighed and started counting off reasons on my fingers. "One, this is a place only a few of them and Lord Death know about. Two, those that know want nothing to do with it. Three, if anyone does come down here, we automatically know what they're up to." He snorted. "Yeah, I'll give you that. What about Medusa?" I sighed, sitting up. "She's not going to make her move for a while, and it was only a hunch. She might have no idea Asura's down here." Akuma looked at me again skeptically. "Okay, so my hunches have a 90 percent chance of being right. Sue me." I said grumpily, standing up and walking away. I picked up an apple and started munching.

We had staked out a base in the underground temples, tunnels, and hallways of Asura's prison, which was directly in front of the entrance. There was enough food for several months, so we were set until boredom came into the picture. To occupy ourselves, we were forced to spar with Queenie and DK, and if I do say so myself, give them a run for their money. But you could count on one hand how many people knew about Kishin Asura's resting place, and of those, 0.0% would try to come down here. We were snug as a bug in a rug, with nobody jumping out at us and trying to kill us all day. This was peace, and we loved it.

_Death the Kid's POV:_

_What's going on here!?_ I was in shock after father explained just what was in our school. _How could something like that be under the academy all these years?_ I was so wrapped up in my musings that I didn't even notice when my footsteps started leading down to the dungeon level. When I finally got there, I stopped, confused. _When did I get here? Oh well, I'll just leave now…_ I turned and walked up the steps, but after a few moments of wandering, had to admit I was lost. I had never been in this area of the school before, and I stopped in front of two strange statues, hopelessly confused now. _What the hell? _"C'mon girl, you need more speed! Imagine you're attacking me! Oh, wait, you are…you must not hate me enough!" a voice echoed down from the entrance the statues were guarding, and I walked past them, intent on finding who else was down there.

I froze when I came out, stock still in shock. The past few weeks had been spent by father trying to track down Kage and Akuma, and here they were, right under our noses? Kage was running along a wall, chasing a boy who looked a lot like Akuma, but Akuma was sitting on the ground, and the boy was slightly transparent. It was then I noticed their stuff, spread out in a way that was horribly asymmetrical. I bit my lip, closing my eyes and fighting the urge to go and fix the mess. _Ignore it, it doesn't bother me at all, ignore it, ignore it, that's Kage and Akuma out there, you don't want to chase them off, ignore it, ignore it!_ I was sweating hard, ignoring the urge, and barely succeeding. I let out a long, slow breath, glad I mastered the urge. "Hey, I scored seven hits on you at once!" Kage's voice said cheerfully, and my eyes snapped open. "ASYMMETRICAL!" I screamed, blacking out.

_***Time Skip**_

"His nose is still gushing blood and his eye's twitching." A voice said.

"Is that normal for Reapers?" another voice.

"For this one, sometimes." A different voice.

"How do we wake him up?" the third voice said.

"Drop him in a fire and watch him squirm?" the second voice said.

"Shut it DK." The other two voices said in unison.

"Just a suggestion." DK said mockingly.

I moaned, trying to sit up.

"He twitched and groaned! Crap he's a zombie! Break out a baseball bat!"

"SHUT IT DK!" the two voices roared.

"Humph. Just trying to warn you. Don't blame me if you turn into brain-eating corpses."

"DK, do me a really big favor and stuff it before I make you swallow your tongue."

"Oh, like Hannibal Lector! Go on, do your worst! I want to see this!"

"Hannibal who? And Akuma's right, shut the hell up."

I finally managed to open my eyes, seeing a blurry face hovering above mine. I blinked, and it solidified into Kage, who was holding my head in her lap. I weakly said "Guys?" and she flinched. "Crap he's coherent!" she said frantically, tapping someone else's shoulder. Akuma's faced loomed into my line of sight, frowning. "Now what do we do?" he said in annoyance. "What does this remind you of?" another voice said, shoving a white card in my face with…with… "SEVEN!" I screeched, blacking out again.

_***Time Skip again***_

"He's twitching more this time."

"But not as much blood."

"Guys, shouldn't we be worried about what he'll tell his dad?"

"What? Oh right, Lord Death. Meisters. Bad. Hehe, pretty blood."

"DK, you're creeping me out."

"Yeah, lose the slasher grin."

"But I like the slasher grin, and this is so much fun! I just killed a Reaper!"

"I forbid you to do that again. And he isn't dead, just passed out."

"Can I fix that?"

"NO!"

"Guys, seriously now, what should we do?"

"For starters, you stop defending him. And put him down."

"Elevating his head helps."

"Sure it does. Why can't I do it?"

"You'd break his neck for fun and say your hands slipped."

"How did you know that!?"

"I live with my brother, who has you in his head all day."

"And I'm totally with DK in this case, put him down."

"Guys, you're avoiding the issue. He just saw and probably heard us down here. What do we do?"

"Kill him and blame it on the snake witch?"

"Akuma, any sane suggestions?"

"How would we kill him?"

"AKUMA..."

"Probably through decapitation, impaling, and maybe a little hacking on the side."

"Well, when you put it that way…"

"If you say yes I will flay you limb from limb, slowly."

"No, not a chance, never, no way. He's my best buddy. Hehe."

"Wuss."

"Shut up."

"Guys, please, how are we going to cover this up?"

I opened one eye slightly, seeing my head was still in Kage's lap and she was arguing with Akuma, and someone else who I couldn't see, probably DK. "Won't tell…" I moaned, lifting a hand to rub my forehead. "See, he won't say anything! Put that crowbar down DK!" I lifted my head up slightly, to see the same boy who Kage was chasing earlier with a crowbar in his hands, looking sheepish. I gulped. Akuma stared my in the eye. "Do you swear on all symmetry in the world?" he said seriously, and I nodded frantically. He sighed. "Good enough for me." DK glared at me stonily, not saying anything. "DK…" Kage said warningly, lifting one hand slightly. He blinked, then scowled. "Fine, fine. I won't murder him in his bed anytime soon." He growled, waving one hand.

She sighed. "Well, I'll take him up to the surface. See you soon." She grabbed me under my arms and hoisted me to my feet, dragging me towards the entrance. I stumbled, trying to help, and managed to get out of Akuma's and DK's eyesight before collapsing on her shoulder, exhausted. She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye, and frowned. "Does asymmetry affect you that much?" she asked quietly, and I shrugged. "If it's bad enough, yes." I said, panting. She frowned deeper, then grinned. Before I could ask what she was doing she placed both hands on my temples, frowning in concentration. I blinked, seeing a series of soothing images play across my eyes. _Eight, butterfly, father's school, Liz and Patty in weapon form, my house, Kage standing by Akuma with her hair shorter, Akuma's weapon forms, various shapes perfectly divided down the middle…_

The images went on and on, until she gasped and moved her hands away from my temples, rubbing her own head fiercely. "Damn overstress…" she muttered grumpily, shaking her head back and forth. I gasped. "That was beautiful!" I shouted, hugging her around the waist. "So much symmetry!" She flushed. "Umm, yeah, thanks. Can you not do that please?" I blinked, then jumped away like she was on fire, blushing as I thought of how I violated her personal space. "Sorry." I said, looking the other way. She rubbed the back of her neck, her cheeks still decidedly pink. "Yeah, whatever. So how are things with you guys? Blackstar learned to shut up yet?" she asked, leading the way back upstairs.

"He and Tsubaki managed to bag a soul, her brother's actually, the Enchanted Sword?" I said, raising an eyebrow when she nodded. "Oh, him. The shadow weapon?" I nodded. "Yeah. Maka, Soul, and them all went to London on an extracurricular, and they ran into this wolf-man…" I explained what had been going on the past few weeks, and before I knew it we were back to a spot I could find my way back from. She smirked at me. "Well, at least we won't have to bail you guys out in future! Oh, and don't try to find us again, I might not be able to convince them to leave you alone a second time, especially if you bring friends. You should tell everyone, eventually. Probably in a couple days, when we'll be ready to leave. Do you know where we were down there?" I bit my lip and nodded.

"Obviously, don't tell them that either. Just say we're fine, and we're alive. And don't mention DK." I nodded, not knowing what to say to that. "Would they really have killed me?' I asked, not believing her. She frowned. "DK would have slaughtered you without a second thought, and Akuma…might have gone along with it. We are very close-knit. Any person not of the clan is expendable at the very best. At the worst, which is Reapers…" she trailed off, and I saw the fear in her eyes. "…they're mortal enemies." She bowed once, and then promptly vanished.

_Kage's POV:_

_ That was close._ I reassembled myself in front of Akuma, not saying anything. DK wolf-whistled. "Somebody's got the hots for a Reaper…" he sang teasingly, and I snarled at him. "Shut it before I rip you lying demon tongue out DK. Just leave me alone." I said, facing away from him and picking up a sandwich to eat. I munched on it silently, ignoring any further comments from either of them, or Queenie, who was trying to berate me for giving Kid an image-trance. _SHUT UP WORLD!_ To block out anything my "family" was saying, I went into a meditative trance, palms upright on my knees, legs crossed neatly.

_Who's doing something interesting? Oh, Stein and Sid? What on earth are they…oh, you finally figured it out? _"Sid, Nygus, just be careful. We're dealing with a witch it's not going to be easy." Sid turned away. "Trust me Stein, we are aware of that. We've seen plenty of people lose their lives to witches during our time, we'll take all the necessary precautions." Nygus started walking away. "Let's go Sid." He nodded. "Yeah." I spun away towards other shadows, not really caring whether or not they brought Medusa in. _Pretty damn unlikely, given her caliber of sneakiness. Which reminds me…oh dear. _Medusa was thought-talking to another witch, one whose soul I didn't recognize. _Hmm…Eruka Frog? She must be manipulated into this, there's no way someone so…careful…would be doing __**anything**__ that might bring Lord Death's attention down on her._

I frowned, bringing myself up out of the trance. "Damnit." I whispered, standing up. Akuma and DK both looked at me. "What?" I was already packing our stuff. "That snake witch is going to try and resurrect Asura tomorrow night. She knows about him." Akuma swore and DK snarled. "So what will we do?" Akuma said, pacing back and forth. DK shimmered, then solidified. "We kick her but! Me and Queenie are the only Kishins around here!" he said, doing a fist pump. "You like, right sis?" He said, turning to my shadow. It lengthened, taking on Queenie's more physical form. "Hell yes. We're going to kill Asura properly, once and for all!" she shouted, bringing all the shadows to life with a motion of her hand. I grinned. _Finally we can beat down a witch who deserves it! And maybe we'll even all work together!_

_**Not really a cliffhanger, technically. We all know pretty much what happens, right? Yeah…I got a tattoo! A henna one, but still. For those of you who have no clue what henna is, it's a sort of planty dye that stains skin (and hair, and nails, and clothes) orangey-brown and sticks for a couple weeks. (Longest one I've ever had was when I dyed my nails, and it only went away because they grew out, not because it wore off. It took about four months for it all to completely vanish.) Warning, there is no such thing as black or colored henna! It's just the brown or orangey-pumpkinish-brown, nothing else. If they say black henna is henna, it's not, it's very hazardous and you should never put it on yourself. I've never heard of someone trying to push colored henna, but don't believe them either. I have heard of people trying to push black henna, once at Wisconsin Dells. Never listen to black henna people… anyway, Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien!**_


	14. Accident At the DWMA

_**Right then, time for a thank you to my reviewers. Great Zero, who was my first one for this fanfic, kirbylovespie, my second, Guest person of unknown origin as my third, and my three newest, .3, Medusa Gorgon789, and Emma-sempai. As most of you have probably guessed, there is a reason for this sudden flattery. I'm running out of foreword ideas! But really, thanks guys. Anyway, if anything seems a bit off for these next couple chapters, it's because I'm writing them from the manga POV, since I can't get the anime on Netflix right now. And I'm not fourteen until the 19**__**th**__**, so I can't watch them on YouTube either. AnimeStatic is too buggy and a waste of time. So, since I have the manga, I'll just write out of that, and try to find clips of the anime when I can. There were two reviews at odds, one that said "**__**Are Medusa and Asura finally going to really die?! I hope so!" and another that said "Too bad Medusa has to die, but it's how the story goes. But please one last thing... make her death awesomely awesome!" So…we have conflicting opinions on this subject. On one hand, we have the "BURN THE STOOPY SNAKE WITCH" on the other, "BUT SHE'S AWESOME!" Such good arguments…well, I'll just do my own thing and hope you like how it turns out! Enjoy! (Based off of a You're going Down and Blood Sugar/Insanity beat AMVs.)**_

_Kage's POV:_

_ DK, I will kill you slowly, and painfully, and I will record it and watch it every night before bed. NEVER make me do this again._ I thought to him, and Akuma snickered through my headpiece. "DK says to stop hating on him. What was his grand disguise?" I growled, tugging on the edges of my dress. "Guess." I couldn't see him, but got the feeling he was smirking. "He made you clean yourself off didn't he?" I scowled, and the mirror on the opposite wall cracked and shattered. "HE MADE ME PUT MAKE-UP AND A DRESS ON!" I screamed into the headpiece, fuming with rage. The mirror collapsed with a puff of dust. I blinked, coming back to reality. I was hiding in a DWMA bathroom, freaking out. Not only was I back on Reaper home turf, I was back in a freaking _dress_. I tugged on the end of my hair, only to grab empty air. _Oh yeah, I cut it…yeesh, remind me to kill DK a __**lot**__ after this._

I walked back outside, taking a deep breath. I saw Kid, Liz, and Patty puppy guarding the front door, and smirked when I saw Blackstar, Tsubaki, Maka, and Soul walk up. Everyone but Blackstar had taken the trouble to look nice, but he looked like a monkey had put on his suit for him. _Since he's the one that did it, that's probably not too far off…_ "Hurry or it will start without us!" Maka was saying, looking over her shoulder at Soul. "You're the one who took so long primping." He shot back, looking annoyed. "Tsubaki, I'm gonna stuff my face tonight!" Blackstar said happily, and she made a face. They had almost made it to Kid and the others, and I stayed in the shadows and whistled our signal song, the first few notes of Halloween. He twitched and looked around frantically.

Liz and Patty looked around as well. I stepped out of the shadows, grinning. "Hey, hey, wazzup meisters?" I said casually, and they all whipped around to stare at me in shock. I gave them the live long and prosper sign. Kid was staring with his mouth open, Maka was stuttering, Blackstar was confused, Tsubaki was in shock, Soul was looking incredulous, Patty was singing something about giraffes, and Liz was trying to shut her up. "Kage!? What the hell are you doing here!?" Kid hissed finally, and I grinned at him. "Aww, was it invitation only? My bad, I just thought it'd be cool to say hi." Maka stopped stuttering and managed to form a coherent sentence. "Kage, you do know that all the teachers and Lord Death are here!?" she squeaked, and I rolled my eyes.

"Precisely. Who'd look for DWMA's most wanted right in the middle of a party celebrating DWMA? Brilliant!" I gave them all a collective thumbs up. Blackstar was snickering. "Why are you wearing…a DRESS!" he finally shouted, and I growled. "One word about that and I rip your tongue out and stuff it down your throat." I said, folding my arms. Tsubaki put an arm around my shoulder. "I think you look nice Kage! So, how are you guys?" I maneuvered carefully out of her grip, trying not to offend her. "Here, there, everywhere. If any large bunch of unattended souls showed up, wasn't me." I said, dusting myself off. Soul scratched his head. "That was you guys?" I mimed zipping my lips shut. "Shhh." I said, winking at them.

"You heard nothing; you will say nothing, because there is nothing." I said clearly, walking past them into the hall. They all shrugged and a little after that came in after me, but I was all over Medusa, and there could have been demon-removing spray in the room, I wasn't even blinking. She was being watched by a pro. After a little bit I saw Stein walk behind her, then acquire a drunken appearance. He talked to her a little bit, and then dragged her out on the dance floor. I snickered. _DK, are you seeing this? Funniest thing I've ever seen…_ His voice suddenly entered my head, although it was faint and far away. _Yeah…can't talk…much, Reaper…really funny though…see ya!_ His presence suddenly exited my head, just as Stein swung around, peering at me suspicously. I remained calm sipping at some champagne, which tastes nasty by the way, and generally exhibiting an aura of "I'm so freaking bored with this…" He turned to focus on Medusa.

I breathed out a quiet sigh of relief. _Whew…that was close…maybe this wasn't such a good idea; I might get stuck with everyone else…_ a voice next to me made me twitch slightly. "Are you just going to blend in? If you came, you might as well have fun." Kid said, looking at me in concern. I shrugged, trying to keep an eye on Medusa. "Umm, nah, actually I just came because…well, it's kinda complicated." I said nervously, fidgeting a little. He smiled. "Care to dance?" he said with a bow, looking up at me hopefully. I blushed slightly, and exerted my poker face. "Umm…well…I guess?" I said, placing my hand in his and letting him lead me out onto the dance floor. The song was rather upbeat, and people around us were not really doing any of that slow mushy-type dancing, for which I was eternally grateful.

"Who taught you to dance?" he asked after a few moments, and I shrugged. "Nobody." He looked surprised. "But you're really good at it!" he protested, and I bit my lip. "Maybe because of some of the training we did? We do get rather good balance after a while…" I said thoughtfully, looking at his metal collar skull. He raised an eyebrow. "Training?" I giggled. "I've heard some of the people here complain…what you meisters do is _nothing_ for us. For example, we're expected to be able to do a handstand on our partner's hands every day before breakfast to wake ourselves up, and if we fall, we don't get breakfast until it's done correctly." He looked shocked. "Really!?" I shrugged nonchalantly. "Eh, it's not all that hard, once you get the trick of it down. Switching position is hard."

He frowned. "Switching position?" I smirked at him. "The advanced students are expected to be able to do it interchangeably, and flip so the other person's on top at a whim. _That's_ hard." He chuckled. "I can see how you would get good balance after a while." I beamed at him. "Yup." He looked over my shoulder. "I've been wondering something. If you have weapon, witch, and meister souls all in one, what's your normal soul?" I blinked at him. "Normal soul?" He looked at me curiously. "Well, you know, your human one." I bit my lip. "We…don't have one." I said finally, looking away. "It's just weapon, witch, and meister all mixed together." I frowned, looking at his face. "Do you even know how we're able to survive like that?" He shook his head. "Simple answer is, we don't. When Nightstalker die, our souls don't pop up like normal." I said, trying to explain this complicated subject.

"See, way back when, the first Nightstalker killed a weapon, witch, and meister and swallowed their souls. At the cost of his own human soul, a demon mixed them together and gave them to him as his new soul. Being product of a demon, it was faulty. He only lived long enough to pass the method down to his kids. We all have the procedure ingrained into our DNA; we're not even born as human souls anymore, just the mixed ones. That's how we can do such powerful attacks, and take so much damage. We can simply shove the damage into the space between our souls, and deal it out when we want to again. It takes a lot to take a Nightstalker down, because of that." I frowned, thinking over something I had been wondering ever since I met Kid.

"Since we can eat as many souls as we want and not be corrupted, because we don't have a human soul to corrupt, sometimes heretics try and fuse their souls with a humans, because they actually want that. It works…sometimes…anyway, my point is, if I killed you and tried to fuse your soul with mine…what do you think I could do?" he blinked, startled. "Reapers are high on the waiting list, fortunately for you and your dad. You got a couple centuries before we start coming after you." I said hurriedly, trying to cheer him up. He smiled at me hesitantly. "I'll certainly be staying away from Halloween town in future." He said cheerfully, and I relaxed. I grinned at him. "Yeah." Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Medusa reach up and start to kiss Stein. In shock, my foot bumped against the slight rise of a balcony step, and I tripped and fell on the ground, Kid landing on top of me.

Both of our exclamations of shock were drowned out as his lips accidentally met mine. I felt a block of something like lightning fly through me, and opened my eyes, which had closed, to see him jerk away, startled and embarrassed. "I…" he said, blushing bright red. He realized he was still on top of me and hurriedly stood up, brushing himself off. I lay there, repeating the poker face mantra in my head again and again. _Ignore all, ignore all, ignore all, ignore all, ignore all, ignore all-_ The identical flush, which had been creeping into my cheeks, died out, and I let out a long, slow breath. "Do me a favor Kid." I said sarcastically. "Make sure the next person you fall on is a girl too, or there will be a whole heck of embarrassment in future." He managed to chuckle quietly, and held out a hand. I took it, letting him help me haul myself upright.

He blushed brighter, and looked away, and I rubbed my arm, looking away as well. "Good job we're outside or the whole school would be on our backs." I said softly, and he winced. "Yeah…" he said, rubbing the back of his head. An awkward silence descended, with both of us trying very hard not to look at the other person, and failing miserably. Thank god, the Reaper, and heck, even the Pumpkin King; the silence was broken by Sid. "STEIN!" Kid whipped around, and I thought now was most likely the time. "HURRY! EVERYONE GET OUT OF HERE!" Kid glanced back at me, only to shriek and look away. "KAGE!?" I didn't glance at him as I ripped the bottom half of my dress off, revealing my leggings and collapsible sheaths for Akuma. He did peak through his hand, and then lowered it, staring at my change of outfit. I had overshot a little on my ripping, and the top of the dress stopped a little too high, showing a little more of my stomach than I was comfortable with.

My skin-tight leggings, the only ones that we could find in the stores right by the DWMA's secret tunnel exits, weren't exactly modest as well, but I was in a hurry. "Go by Sid, I'll be right behind you." I said, tying my boot strings back on and tossing the high heels over the balcony edge. I tugged my jacket back on as he ran in, having summoned it through my shadows. "Let's get this started." I said, vaulting off the balcony and running back to where our underground entrance closest to me was. _Medusa, it's on._

_Death the Kid's POV:_

I flushed again, running over to where Sid was kneeling on the floor. I had _kissed_ Kage, even though it was a complete accident. _Kissed_ her. Then just after Sid called out, I had turned to see what I thought was her striping. I had shrieked and closed my eyes, bit then peeked through my hands to see her wearing some leggings and her boots, with the top of the dress still on. _Those looked like clothes she would exercise in…did she know something like this was going to happen!?_ I shook my head, trying to concentrate on what Sid was saying. "I'm fine, but you need to get away from here now, there's a trap! This is the day she's been waiting for, when Lord Death and all the students would be in one room!"

Stein whipped around. "Where's Medusa!?" I looked around, but didn't see her. The room started to shake, and Sid whipped Nygus out of her sheath. "You up to doing Soul Resonance, right?" he said, and she started glowing. "What's happening?" Maka said as the room shook harder, and the walls started to glow green. "What's going on?" Soul growled, as he almost fell due to the shaking. "Space is warping…We're being locked in!" Stein shouted, glancing around. Sid plunged Nygus into the ground, as she glowed brighter. "Force Burial!" he shouted, and the floor fell out from under me.

_Kage's POV:_

I tapped the communicator off as I neared DK and Akuma. They fell into step beside me, Akuma transforming into swords that I caught and sheathed. DK smirked and took on a more corporeal form, actually casting a faint shadow in the dim light of the underground tunnels. Queenie molded my shadow into a life-size puppet for her to control, walking slightly behind me. _Singing we will, we will rock you!_ DK shouted into my mind, actually going so far as to make faint notes of the song float around in my brain. We all rolled our eyes. _Shut it DK._ I thought, with Akuma agreeing and Queenie glaring at DK. He smirked and shrugged. _Hey, we got the posse and everything; I thought we might like some theme music._ He said, huffing. I picked up my ears when I heard Stein's voice saying "This is the entrance we need. Our enemy is powerful, if you aren't prepared for what lies ahead, then you may die. If you wanna turn around, you better do it now." I heard various shuffling clothing noises, then "We're coming." from Maka.

He inhaled. "Good." I strode out the entrance. Stein's back was to me, but everyone else was facing my direction. I snorted. "I'm coming too, with my friends." I said, folding my arms and smirking when Stein flinched and turned around. He stared at me. "How-" he began but I cut him off. "Me, Akuma, and DK have been bunkered down here for weeks." I said cheerfully, ignoring his look of annoyance. "It _was_ the last place you people would think to check." I said, rubbing a bit of imaginary mud off my boot sole. He scowled. "Why should we trust you?" he asked stiffly, but I didn't answer.

"Because we Kishin are very territorial, and not only that, Asura's powers cancel out our own. Fear and Rage can't exist in Madness." DK said, melting through the wall on my right. Queenie flowed my shadow through the wall on my left. "We've been waiting for the chance to kill him once and for all." She snarled, making all the shadows in the room pull towards her, but otherwise stand still. "Don't mind the crazy Kishin, they're a job fixture." Akuma said wearily from my waist, clicking his swords in their sheathes. Stein blinked. "The…crazy…Kishin!?" I gave him a thumbs up. "Now you've got two Nightstalker and two homicidal Kishin maniacs on your side, and only three witches, a DemonSword, and _one_ crazy homicidal Kishin on the other side!" I said cheerfully, ignoring DK's miffed look.

_**Yes, I end there. Mean, isn't it? Well, they had to squeeze it into seven episodes, which is most of Season Two! So…possibly seven chapters! Or more, because I do have to bring Kage, Akuma, DK, and Queenie into it…they aren't just going to sit around…and all the other enemies are taken up…I'm giving you a spoiler here people…oh forget it. I'm sure you are all very upset with me over this, so go voice your complaints in a review or something. I will reply, even if you are insulting me! (With constructive things, not comebacks) So much to do, so little time to do it…I'll manage, I always do. Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien!**_


	15. Where there's smoke, there's Jack?

_**Funny thing last time, I didn't save my chapter once until I was done. I finished it off and then clicked save, only for the "save as" window to pop up. Oops. *looks sheepish* Anyway, didn't post the last two days, because it was Valley-freaking-Fair day! We were staying there until fiveish, and then my three friends came over for my b-day party, which is on the 19, by the way, not yesterday. So I didn't get on the computer at all, which is extremely rare. Sorry, but first things first. I had a minnie writer's block on Tuesday, so that's why this wasn't posted then. Oh, almost forgot, if any of the phrasing seems off, they call Lord Death Shinigami-sama in the manga, which is Japanese for basically the same thing, so I have to work around that a little. (Based off You're going Down AMV, I thought the chapter yesterday was going to be longer)**_

_Kage's POV:_

"Hey Kid, how did Lord Death seal away this Asura guy in the first place?" Maka said as we ran down to the lowest levels of the basement. Kid opened his mouth to answer, but DK interrupted him. "The Reaper stripped his skin off and stuck him in a bag made out of it. Then he used his soul as crazy glue to keep the Kishin stuck here. Bit overkill, but hey, we Kishin are sneaky, isn't that right guys?" he called ahead to me and Akuma, who ignored him. "So Lord Death can't ever leave Death City?" Blackstar asked, running just behind us. "If the seal was broken and the Kishin escaped, could he leave then?" Maka asked. Stein answered this time. "No, it's not that simple. Lord Death has bound his soul to this land. I suppose you could even say he's become one with Death City." Maka gasped. "So it's like he's stuck inside himself!"

"Exactly. If he needed to move, he'd have to find some way of giving this land legs, and I don't see that happening any time soon." Stein replied, and then asked us. "Something's been bothering me, how did you know about this place?" I snorted. "As much as it pains me to say it, that's a DK question. DK?" He snickered. "Kishin and the Reaper obviously don't get along. When Asura bought it the rest of us thought it was only a matter of time, and took defensive measures. Some of us are still out there, waiting…" He trailed off ominously, and then Blackstar interjected. "Wait, what about you two?" He frowned. "Well, what do you think?" he said sarcastically. "That we got home free? We got nailed good and proper by the Reaper. Reaper-chopped into a bloody mess, then hacked up a little more by his Death Scythes, the works. Kage can tell you the rest of the story, can't she?"

I sighed. "He and his sister's souls fled and regrouped inside a monastery or something like that, then came to our clan. We bound them into the bloodline and they've been working for us ever since. End of story." I said abruptly, not wanting to say any more than necessary. "Hey Maka, can you sense the witch's souls up ahead?" Blackstar asked after we had been running a few more minutes. "No, looks like they have their Soul Protects on…" she said, closing her eyes, then opening them. I nodded. "Yeah, we can't sense anything because of the madness." I said, gesturing to DK and Queenie. "Well that's no help! And that was the only thing you were good at too…" Blackstar said to Maka, who glared at him. "You're really ticking me off." She growled, and he laughed.

Suddenly I caught the wavelength of a soul in the shadows ahead, but the ever-present madness was like a blanket over my senses, and I couldn't tell anything beyond the fact it was there. We all stopped, and Blackstar skidded to a halt a second after the wavelength-sensing meisters. "What? What?" he asked, looking all over the place. "Professor, up ahead…" Maka said, staring into the darkness. "Yes, I sense it too." He said. I squinted. The shadows and darkness that were so impermeable to other eyes were actual beneficial to my eyesight, so I saw exactly who was in the shadows ahead, and rolled my eyes. Maka narrowed her eyes. "I know that soul. That nasty, despicable feeling…" Spirit walked out from the darkness, looking hurt. "I'm not nasty, or despicable…" he whimpered, sounding miserable. "How did you escape the trap they set up there?" Stein asked, ignoring Maka and Blackstar, as he laughed at her reaction and she punched him in the face.

"When it comes to chasing a woman no one's faster than I am!" Spirit said, giving us a thumbs up. "I should've guessed. It is a relief to see you though, I don't know how much I could do without my weapon. What do we got, are they up ahead?" Spirit turned. "Yep. Lying in wait for us." He transformed, and Stein caught him. "Listen up!" he said, turning back to us. "From this point onward there's no telling what could happen. It'd be best for you weapon's not to return to human for during the battle. When you're vulnerable a single blow could be the end of you." Tsubaki nodded on her blade. "Right." Liz whimpered. "Umm, yeah, okay." Patty giggled. "YEAH!" Soul didn't say anything. DK and Akuma nodded. "Why are they sitting up there waiting for us, I thought they were on their way to the Kishin?" Blackstar said, watching the shadows in front of us. "No, they would have left some behind for protection." Stein said, watching the tunnel mouth as well.

I blinked. _And here we go._ "Hey, did you hear that?" Blackstar said, having caught the same sound "Hear what?" Maka said, leaning forward. The footsteps got closer and closer, and the less high-tuned meisters now heard them as well. "Yeah I heard that." Maka said, taking a defensive stance. Kid held Liz and Patty tighter, leaning forward as well. "It sounds like footsteps to me." Blackstar brandished Tsubaki. "So they're finally showing themselves. Who's it gonna be?" Stein frowned. "Someone able to defend against and defeat multiple opponents, someone who can attack several people simultaneously, someone who will make absolutely sure not to let us through, no matter what." He said as a purple soul swelled, ballooning out of the darkness as Medusa stepped forward. She smirked. "How lovely to see you all again." DK, thankfully unnoticed, stuck his tongue out at her.

"Alright, here's how I think it's going to break down." Stein said. "For the most part, we can anticipate our enemies' moves. The first roadblock is going to be Medusa. The DemonSword will be the second barrier. After that, the remaining two will be making their way to the Kishin. The werewolf Maka and the others fought before is immortal, so he's going to be in charge of protecting the black blood at all costs. Now then, this is what we will do. I'll stay here and keep Medusa busy, while I'm doing that the four of you can slip past me. Kid, you're the most mobile of our little army, so you head past the others to the two with the black blood." He nodded. "Understood." Stein continued. "Blackstar, you'll be keeping the DemonSword busy so Kid and the others can get through. Since you can attack directly with your wavelength, you can do the most damage to the DemonSword." Blackstar grinned. "Yeah!" He smirked and went on. "Maka, you run on past the DemonSword and Medusa and catch up with Kid, then you destroy the black blood." She nodded. "Right!"

He glanced at me. "You guys stick around and make absolutely sure everything is going according to plan, but run on past me and Medusa first." I grinned. _Keeping us out of the fighting? Well, he is a teacher…_ "Yes sir, we will." Is aid, glaring at DK to make sure he got the message. He frowned. "There's just one last thing. I want you all to make me a promise. I want you to promise not to die. Can you do that?" "Yes." We all said, raising our heads. "Holding a strategy meeting right in front of your enemy? Is that really the best idea?" Medusa said sarcastically, smirking at us. Stein removed his glasses. "Ah, well, I guess we'll just have to take our chances won't we?" She sighed. "Always so stupidly confident aren't you? Shall we start the party then?" She went into a spell casting stance.

"Nake snake, cobra, cobra. Nake snake, cobra, cobra." She chanted, as the arrow snakes we had fought before began to curl around her. "Aright, here we go, don't worry about getting past her right away. Wait for a good opening to present itself." Stein said as she began making hand gesturing, the snakes following them. "Stay calm and collected. Here goes!" She held both hands above her head. "Vector arrow, TIMES THREE!" she shouted, as the arrows burst away from her body and shot towards us. "She's picked a perfect spell for keeping multiple attackers at bay! And it's more powerful than last time!" Stein said as me, Kid, Maka, and Blackstar charged the arrows, yelling. "If you get scared, go to sleep." Kid said as he split away from us, and Liz stammered "Yeah, okay!" Blackstar scowled as he charged the arrows on the same side. "I'm not going to hold back! Now, Enchanted Sword mode!" he yelled to Tsubaki, and she transformed. "Right!"

Medusa faced them and made a gesture with both hands. "It's time to punish you, impudent boy!" She said, and the arrows swerved towards them. Kid jumped up, riding the arrows until he reached the other side. "We're through!" Liz and Patty yelled as they shot away. "Guys, I'm going to keep moving!" he yelled back at us as he was lost to sight. Blackstar put a hand up to his face. "Tsubaki!" She started glowing. "Right!" Tattoos appeared all over his face, and Tsubaki's shadow turned into something Queenie might use. He chopped through the arrows in his way, before breaking out of the cluster and charging after Kid. "Why you-" Medusa shouted, as he yelled. "YAHOO!" he shouted, before being lost to sight as well. "Two down." Stein muttered, staring after him.

I smirked. _Queenie?_ My shadow reared above my head as I ran head on into the forest of arrows. I quickly chanted my spell. "Cat o' nines!" I shouted, raking a hand at the arrows about to impale me, and was mildly amused when they split into tiny flakes. I spun and flipped, always staying just ahead of being sliced into pieces. Before long, I broke out, and ran after Kid and Blackstar. Medusa snarled after me, but was too busty keeping Maka bottled up to give chase. I grinned as I ran, but before long, my grin dropped. Maka caught up to me, but I said nothing of what I had caught. _Kid, seriously, why aren't you and Blackstar moving!?_ I wailed inside my head, charging onward.

Then we both skidded to a stop, and I mentally berated myself for not foreseeing this. Kid and Blackstar were staring, enthralled, at a ball of light hovering a few feet above the ground, and even as I saw this, Maka staggered over to join them. They all gathered around it, and I saw a bit of drool hanging out of Blackstar's mouth. _Eww…_ I gritted my teeth, brandishing Akuma. I strode forward and slammed his hilt into the ball, feeling the wave of a powerful Soul Force, because that's what it really was, slam through my body. It shattered, and I was left panting, as they all blinked and shook their heads. "What was that!?" Kid asked, staring at the spot where it had been.

I scowled. "That's smoke. And where's there's smoke, there's fire…come on out, _Jack_." He smirked that slasher smirk of his, stepping out of the alcove where he had hidden himself. "Well, well, if it isn't my two favorite apprentices." He said, holding his arms out to us. "It isn't." I said, clenching my fists around the comforting handles of Akuma's swords. Maka and the others backed up. "Crap, this guy! What do we do?" Blackstar said, pointing Tsubaki at him. I scowled. "Move on guys, you'll have to do this alone. Skeleton Jack and us have a little unfinished business…and we're about to end it." I said, moving forward with Akuma. Jack grinned, holding out his hand. A shadowy shape writhed, then solidified into a scythe about the same size as Spirit's. "With pleasure." He said, testing it's blade on his hand.

_3__rd__ Person POV:_

Maka and the other meisters inched forward, then paused, looking from Jack to their friends and back again. "Kage…we can't get by…" Maka said desperately, and Kage rolled her eyes. "Meisters…" she muttered under her breath, shaking her head. Suddenly, without warning, she was there, standing over Jack, one of Akuma's blades an inch from his head, caught on his scythe. A belated clang echoed through the air, and the meisters stared. "Kage, Kage…" Jack said, shaking his head. "You've become almost as slow as one of the meisters you've joined. I could see that coming a mile away." He said disapprovingly, frowning slightly. Maka and the others silently inched past them, then started to run. "Keep going and don't help us, no matter what you hear!" Kage called after them, before going back to death-staring Jack.

"Skeleton Jack, why are you here?" she asked, staring at him in disgust. "You call us abominations, yet you are helping a witch resurrect yet another Kishin. Why?" He grinned at her. "I owe the snake witch, and she has called in her debt. Are you saying I would not honor my word?" He said mockingly, dislodging her blade and slicing deeply into her side. She backflipped away from him, and immediately swung for his head again, only to be greeted by a mocking clang of metal against metal. "YOU HAVE NEVER HONORED ONE WORD OF ANY OF YOUR PROMISES TO US!" She shouted, switching attacks and hitting him with a Soul Force. He was blown backwards, hitting a stone column and blasting through it. He landed on his feet, not even winded.

There's only one way to end this, once and for all." Kage said, glancing at the two demons that had appeared at her side. They both nodded silently, disappearing, and Kage's eye started to glow, but not change color, not yet. She grinned, and her teeth had become sharper, longer. Jack snorted. "Are you really hoping to scare me, _me_, Skeleton Jack, the Pumpkin King? There's only one way for this to end, and it's with your blood staining the ground, not mine." Kage shrugged. "Who cares? My goal is to take you down with me!" they both took similar stances, and their souls began to form. Jack's was more defined, with a definite resemblance to a pumpkin, with eyes and a mouth, and the same orange glow that Kage's had. Hers was smaller, but it had a contagion of those shadowy wisps drifting around it.

"You won't win. "_The wary will rest, the dammed will die, and the strong will survive, but all shall bow to the Pumpkin Soul_." You can't beat me, and you shall bow to my power." He said imposingly, but Kage ignored him. "Yeah right." She spat, and the first few notes began to drift in the air around them. "Boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange?" She sang, and her soul swelled. "Come with us and you will see, this our town of Halloween." Jack said, as his soul grew as well. "This is Halloween, this is Halloween, pumpkins scream in the dead of night!" He said, soul vanishing as he spun the scythe around in his hands several times. "This is Halloween, everybody make a scene, trick or treat till the neighbor's gonna die of fright!" Kage sang back, twirling Akuma's swords and settling down into a fighting stance. "It's our town, everybody scream! In this town of Halloween." They sang together, as the last glowing hint of their souls faded away.

"I am the one hiding under your bed, teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red!" Jack charged at Kage, scythe biting deeply into her leg before she could block and toss his blade away. "I am the one hiding under your stairs, fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair!" she sang, gritting her teeth against the pain and slamming to pommel of Akuma's sword against Jack's jaw with a crack. "This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween! Halloween, Halloween!" they sang, backing away and assessing the damage. Jack was leaking a little blood form the corner of his mouth and breathing heavily. Kage was bleeding from her leg and side, but seemed otherwise unharmed. Jack grinned. "In this town, we call home, everyone hail to the Pumpkin Soul!" he sang, slamming his free hand into Kage's ribs and Soul-Force blasting her through several of the support pillars. She landed on the far wall, before launching off the vertical surface and slamming into his shoulder.

"In this town, don't we love it now, everybody's waiting for the next surprise!" she shouted, also slamming him with a Soul Force. He crashed through a pillar, slamming into a different wall. The concrete beneath him creaked and cracked in a perfect circle as he landed back on the ground. The room suddenly got much, much darker, and more shadowy. "Round that corner man, hiding in the trash can, something's waiting now to pounce and how you'll-" his voice echoed in the darkness around Kage, who was listening very hard. "Scream!" He slamming a hand on her back, shooting her into a pillar with less force, so she didn't blast through it. "This is Halloween, red and black and slimy green!" he called, pounding her with his wavelength again and again. "Aren't you scared?"

She glared at him and spat blood in his face. "Well that's just fine! Say it once, say it twice, take a chance and roll the dice!" she sang, returning in kind and Soul-Forcing him through several pillars at once, before slamming into him again and again with her Soul Force and Akuma's blades. "Ride with the moon in the dead of night!" He blasted her back again. "Everybody scream! Everybody scream!" he sang, slicing at her as she rolled, trying to avoid being cut in half. "In our town of Halloween!" she sang desperately, coming to her feet and transforming into shadow. "I am the clown with the tear-away face," An invisible force slammed into him from behind, making him stumble. "here in a flash and gone without a trace!" He steadied himself, singing defiantly into the darkness. "I am the who when you call who there, I am the wind blowing through your hair." He sang, dodging another invisible blow and hacking at the darkness where it had been delivered from.

"I am the shadow on the moon at night, filling your dreams to the brim with fright!" She slammed into him again, dealing out a Soul Smash. He kneeled, momentarily overcome by the power. "This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween! Halloween, Halloween!" He sang, forcing his way up and shattering the spell. His shadow tendrils seized Kage and her swords, slamming them into the walls, the ceiling, the floor, the pillars, any and all of the surfaces available. "Tender lumplings everywhere, life's no fun without a good scare!" he sang, letting it rest for a moment. Kage propped herself up on her elbows, her brother in human form and doing the same. She coughed, blood trickling out of her mouth, but trickling out of a mouth smiling more broadly than ever before.

"That's our job but we're not mean, in our town of Halloween!" she sang, along with her brother. Jack stalked towards them, brandishing his scythe. "In this town, don't we love it now, everybody's waiting for the next surprise!" he shouted, bringing it down on their heads, the scythe mysteriously growing so that although Jack was more than ten feet away, it would slice their heads off with room to spare. Kage raised a hand, and the scythe caught on the palm, straining downwards. "Skelton Jack might catch you in the back, and scream like a banshee make you jump out of your skin!" she shouted at him, slowly getting to her feet, along with Akuma. She shoved upwards, and the scythe shrank back to Jack, who was grinning.

"This is Halloween, everybody scream," he sang, running towards them, letting the scythe dissolve and attacking with shadows. "Won't you please make ready for a very special guy?" Kage sang, taking on a defensive stance. His shadows slammed into her, but she held her hands out, and they bounced off and invisible, cocoon-like shield. "Our man jack is King of the Pumpkin Patch, everyone hail to the Pumpkin King now!" she sang through gritted teeth, shield slowly crumpling. "This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween! Halloween, Halloween!" They all sang, as dust rose. One final strike broke through both Kage and Akuma's shields, and they waited for the final blow. "In this town, we call home-" they sang tentatively, watching the dust settle. "Everyone hail to the Pumpkin Soul!" sang a voice right behind them, and they both turned.

_ Jack was standing over their prone forms, grinning. A light yellow light was glowing around the edges of his palms. He slammed his hands down, hitting both of them in the chest, watching morbidly as they started to scream and buck. "_LA, LA, LA, LA-LA-LA, LA, LA, LA, LA-LA-LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA!" He sang, watching them slowly stop bucking and just writhe in agony, teaks leaking from the corners of their eyes. It stopped, and he got up, preparing to end their misery, _permanently_. He swung his scythe, but it was stopped by an outstretched hand. Kage's hand. Kage, whose eyes were now red, with black edges, not white ones. She was grinning, letting the blood flow out her mouth and down her chin.

_**Cliffhanger, how many of you missed those? (and me, but we all know I could die of pneumonia, and as long as my ghost churned out some chapters, you wouldn't give a crap) Leah. costain.3, it keeps saying your name just .3, so if that comes up, I mean you. Again, sorry about the late updates, but now that's school's out, we should be having no more of that nonsense. So, please tell me how mad you are and were about the lack of chapters, and about the extremely cliffhangery cliffhanger. Yes, Review, request, Rcomment/ Auf Wedersien!**_


	16. Revival of the Kishin

_**There was an itty bitty problem with the italics last time, but I fixed it. (at least I think I did) I'll be skipping a lot, sorry to say, like Maka's battle with Crona and probably Kid and Blackstar's fight with Free. I will be showing Medusa's death and suchlike, and when the Kishin resurrects, but there are things that I need to do first. (like explain Kage's apparent resurrection) Okay, so, nothing else, here we go! (Based off a Our Solemn Hour AMV)**_

_Death the Kid's POV:_

I burst through the doors, seeing the werewolf and frog witch holding the black blood and facing the bag of Asura's skin. "That this!" I shouted, flying towards her on Beelzebub. "Eruka!" The werewolf jumped in front of her, deflecting my attack. I spun up to the ceiling, aiming Liz and Patty at them. Suddenly, this mummy-guy appeared in front of me. "What?" His wrappings suddenly shot forward and wrapped around my legs. "Damn!" I fired at him, but he didn't even react. _Who's this mummy guy?_ The wrapping s swerved higher, pinning my arms to my body and lifting my up to the mummy-guy's face. I closed my eyes. _Calm down, just breathe. What you're seeing is brought on by the wavelength of the Kishin's madness; you felt it plenty of times on the way down here._ My eyes snapped open. _It's only a hallucination!_

The man dissolved, and I saw the witch running for the bag. "She's got the blood!" I shouted, landing on the ground. I raised Liz and Patty to fire at her. But the werewolf blocked me again. I screamed my frustration and I shot him anyway. I heard Blackstar running for us. "As long as I'm aiming for the black blood the werewolf can't move! I'll cover you Blackstar, go now!" he shot past me. "I'm going!" I remembered something. "Be careful, the Kishin's madness can make you hallucinate." He snorted. "No worries on that one. My sixth sense really sucks. I can barely feel the madness at all!" I chuckled. "Excellent." He jumped over the werewolf "YAHOO! Enchanted sword mode!" he shouted, starting to resonate with Tsubaki.

I didn't see what happened, but there was an explosion and both Blackstar and the witch were blown backward. The black blood bounced away, and Blackstar jumped up and ran for it. "Alright!" The witch sat up, yelling after him. "Don't even try!" She suddenly spaced out, probably caught in the madness again. But she quickly snapped out of it, just as Blackstar was about to slice the black blood in half. "Hey! Don't do it! No!" she shouted, and Blackstar ignored her. "TAKE THIS!" he shouted, slicing down, but the black blood was suddenly flung back towards the witch by some kind of huge tadpole. "Good job boy!" the witch said happily, catching it. Blackstar punched the tadpole. "You damn slimy amphibian, getting in my way!" he shouted, slamming it away from him. The witch sniffled. "Tadpole Jackson! You were a good pet, I won't forget you!"

She turned and ran for the sack. Blackstar ran away her. "Damn! Don't even think about it! Get the hell away from there frog girl!"He shouted, almost catching up as she shoved the syringe in. "Hurry up Eruka!" the werewolf shouted frantically. "Stop her now Blackstar!" I shouted desperately. "Looks like your time is up froggy!" he shouted, jumping in the air and starting to glow. "Take this!" there was a slice and a snap, and the black blood pooled on the ground, the syringe sliced in half. We all stared, and the remaining half of the syringe fell from the witch's hands. "I did it!" Blackstar said weakly, letting Tsubaki transform to a less damaging mode. "We won." He took a few deep breaths, then smirked up at the witch. "There's no Kishin reviving today!"

_3__rd__ person POV:_

Stein and Medusa were absolutely still. _This is a gamble, and the odds are stack against us. _Spirit thought. _We can't hold this forever. The only way to beat Medusa is to take the offensive, somehow, and strike at her!_ Stein was not as worried. _We've come this far. We're just a step away! But the moment those sutures come undone the fight will start all over again. And as Medusa said, I'm likely to be the loser. Her tail is pointed at my throat, just a hairsbreadth away from beheading me. But right now I can't seem to picture myself being defeated; all I can imagine is dismembering that witch, dissection is what I do best!_ Spirit cracked an eye open, looking at Stein worriedly. _My only chance is to roll the dice and hope I win!_ Stein thought, opening his eyes and leering at Medusa.

There was a rumbling sound, but none of them moved. "What's…happening?" Spirit said, looking nervous. "What is that?" The three balls hovering about DWMA started to spark and glow, and red clouds rushed in. Things much like lightning strikes flared out from them, but did no damage. "The Kishin's madness is overflowing!" He said in alarm. "That means…Kid's group couldn't stop them." Medusa smirked and started to laugh. "The Kishin is reviving!" Spirit said in horror.

"Free, we succeeded!" Eruka said in shock, staring at the bag. Kid swallowed. "No, this can't be happening." Blackstar wobbled, standing up. "Hold on a sec, but we won didn't we?" Kid shook his head in disappointment. "You desperation wound up working against us. Take a closer look. What you actually cut was the shrine sealing the bag!" he said, and Blackstar whipped around. "WHAT!?" Kid continued. "It's sort of ironic. You were so focused on destroying the syringe that you left yourself vulnerable. Your sixth sense kicked in and took over when you weren't expecting it. At the very end you must have begun hallucinating." Blackstar collapsed on the ground, still staring at the shrine. "NO! That-that can't be right!" He protested weakly. He fell back. "We failed."

A black hole opened directly beneath the bag, with three cat-like eyes staring out of it. The rumble echoed all the way down the ruins and halls to Stein and Medusa. "We couldn't stop it." Spirit said wearily. Medusa cackled. "It looks like your kiddies failed. The taste of victory is very sweet." She laughed, long and loudly. Stein screamed, and there was a flash of light, reflecting off Spirit's blade. Medusa's torso fell to the ground, severed arms disintegrating into more vector snakes. "He did it..." Spirit said in shock. "I don't believe it." Her lower body erupted with more snakes, before dissolving. Stein laughed. "Disappointing, isn't it?" he said, digging in his lab coat for a cigarette. "The moment you were certain you had won, your blind elation gave me the opening I needed to defeat you." He stuck it in his mouth and lit it. "It's ironic really. I only won because of the Kishin."

He blew out a long stream of smoke. "But now the demon has revived." Medusa's arrow shaped droplets of blood rained down on him. "So in the end, I lose." He said, bowing his head. He suddenly jerked it up, laughing manically. "But still…I HAVE TO ADMIT, DESTROYING YOU WAS REFRESHING!" Back in the Kishin's lair, the bag was unraveling. "DANMIT! No!" Kid shouted, taking a step towards it and bringing Liz and Patty up. "DIE!" He fired, the bullets pounding into the bag. He stopped for a second, letting the smoke clear. "That did nothing…" Free said in shock when the bag was revealed to be perfectly untouched. Kid clenched his teeth as a bulge appeared in the smooth surface of the bag.

"It's starting to come out!" Eruka stammered, whimpering. The bulge, which was now decidedly man-shaped, fell on the ground. She backed away. A hand-like protuberance shot out from the bulge, finger's wiggling. _The bag…the Kishin's putting its skin back on…_ Kid thought, staring in frightened awe. The newly formed arms fell to the ground, and the Kishin collapsed. It heaved a few more times, eventually taking on the shape of a naked man. The man staggered over to Eruka, who was kneeling on the ground, terrified. The Kishin's foot stopped just shy of touching her, and he crouched down, peering at her. He rubbed a hand across his eyes, probably clearing his vision. Suddenly, he screamed, causing Eruka to scream as well. "He's scared of Eruka?" Free said in surprise.

"Shut up will ya?" Blackstar said, regaining consciousness and sitting up. "Blackstar?" Tsubaki said worriedly, but he didn't answer. "This guy's the Kishin?" he panted, glaring at Asura. "Tsubaki, Enchanted Sword mode. We'll kill him while he's still waking up." He said, gripping her tighter. "No! Your body's taken on too much damage, if we use the Enchanted Sword, I could kill you!" she protested. He growled. "Do it!" She, probably for the first time, openly defied him. "No!" He slammed her on the ground. "Fine then, you sit here and watch." He said, charging towards Asura. "We'll cover you!" Kid said, brandishing Liz and Patty. "Take this, creepy naked demon pervert!" Blackstar shouted, slamming into him with his Soul Force. He choked. _My body can't even handle my won wavelength anymore!_

He got ready to deliver another blow, but Asura swiped him across the face. A tiny trickle of blood dripped out his nose, and then he was slammed backward, crashing to the ground. "Blackstar!" Kid shouted, before firing a few rounds at Asura. The Kishin pinched a bit of skin from its arm, stretching it out and back, before it slingshoted toward Kid, hitting him in the middle of his forehead. He blinked, a tiny eye, just like the ones that awakened Asura, appearing on his face, before he too was shot backwards. The Kishin grabbed more bits of his skin, before twirling around and stretching them out so he was covered in mummy-like strips of skin. "I'm naked, this is so wrong!" He shouted, before launching himself up through the ceiling. "I like the macho look!" Free scratched his head. "Does he mean me?" he said in confusion, and Eruka shrugged.

Maka suddenly ran through the doors before skidding to a halt beneath the hole. "Damnit, we were too late!" She shouted in frustration, jumping and missing as she tried to catch Asura's scarves. A voice behind her made her turn, and Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty all cried out. "OH NO YOU DON'T, GET BACK HERE YOU DAMN COWARD OF A KISHIN!" Kage roared as she jumped up into the hole, snagging the end of his scarves and letting it drag her up through the layers of rock and gravel.

_Kage's POV:_

I lost my grip as we broke out of the ground, and quickly chanted "Shadow take, shadow steal, shadow make, shadow real! Shadow take, shadow steal, shadow make, shadow real, SHADE WINGS!" The last bit was shouted feet from the ground, and Queenie's superior flight instincts took over as I soared back up, seeing Asura caught in some of Death's Seals. "Yo. Long time no see." Queenie said, taking over my mouth for a second. He half turned, and the skin scarves on his face cracked and broke, showing his face. "It's you…my god, it's been centuries…" he sneered, and Queenie cackled. She smirked. "How are you doing? After the Reaper stripped your skin off, you seem to have lost some clothing along with it." She said mockingly, and he smirked.

"What about you? What's with the weird voice, and you're younger." He shot back, and she twirled my body, showing me off. "Oh this? This is just a new body I got for myself; I needed one after the Reaper caught up to me. You like, I think she's very cute!" He snorted. "I've seen better. Are you here to try and kill me, or to help me?" His expression showed how likely he thought the last part would be. Queenie chuckled. "Aww, "try" to kill you? TRY? Try implies you think I will fail, and I don't see that happening!" She shot at him, and he quickly tore himself free of the Seals, soaring out of her way. She braked and turned, shooting back up at him. "Tear your skin off? Stuff you in a bag? That Reaper doesn't know the meaning of pain, and neither do you. ALLOW ME TO TEACH YOU!" She shouted, slicing into him deeply with a wing, before backing away.

_DK's POV:_

I watched my sister duel with Asura, and sighed. _God forbid that we should ever just sneak up on something, no, not us, we just scream out a challenge and dive right in._ I thought to myself, seeing Kage's body bleeding heavily. In desperation, she and her brother had called us into their bodies at the very last second, and we managed to keep them in one piece long enough to send Jack running for cover, and hurry up to catch Asura. Akuma was unconscious, knocked out shortly after I had taken possession of his body. Kage, however, was still going, abeit weakly. My sister was having far too much fun with this, and since Akuma was knocked out, I couldn't do very much. Suddenly I felt the pop and fizzle the meant Kage had bit the dust as well, and sent a mental warning to my big sis.

_You're running on empty, we should hurry up._ I thought to her, and she nodded. Suddenly there was a second pop, and Kage was back up. My sister however, was fading quickly. I could have smacked myself. _We're supposed to keep them alive and unharmed, but since she was out, we had to wake her up, and that means knocking ourselves out._ I sighed, and then tried to help. "Yo, Kage, wakey, wakey!" I shouted, rattling my swords in their sheaths. She moaned in response, but didn't wake up, and the ground getting closer. I cursed. I transformed Akuma's body, taking on human form and moving under her. I wrapped my arms around her, waiting for the ground to hit me. _This is going to hurt!_ I clenched my teeth, squeezing my eyes shut.

The ground slammed into me with a bang and I coughed up blood. _OW!_ I mentally screamed, eyes watering. "Akuma?" Kage said weakly, and I slammed my head against the ground. "You would wake up _now_." I said in annoyance. She tried sitting up, reaching up towards the Kishin. "Gotta…kill…the Kishin…" she said before passing out. "I patted her shoulder. "Take it easy champ." I said, sitting up and seeing the Reaper hovering next to Asura. "We got a professional to take care of things." I watched in morbid fascination as Asura and the Reaper battled, with Asura coming out on top, which wasn't very much of a surprise, seeing as the Reaper didn't have a Death Scythe.

I hoisted Kage's body onto my shoulder, trudging towards the DWMA. I figured since we delayed the Kishin from running away at once, we deserved at least some medical care from them. I felt fine, but that was because it wasn't my body being damaged. I was right as rain, but Akuma had been pounded to a bloody paste, and Kage wasn't in better shape. I hummed to myself as I ascended the stairs, seeing that the DWMA was all lit up, and the green Independent Cube was gone from the tower. "_You can tell me what to say, you can tell me where to go, but I doubt that I would care, and my heart would never know. If I make another move, there'll be no more turning back, because everything will change, and it all will fade to black._" I sang to myself softly, opening the doors with my mind.

Then as I opened the doors to the Dispensary, I remembered that Medusa had been the school nurse, so there was nobody here to help them. I rolled my eyes. _Laser-like focus._ I shrugged and dumped Kage on a bed, and waited for someone medical to show up. To occupy myself, I started carving the steel bedposts into interesting symbols with my nails.

_Jack's POV:_

I rubbed my shoulder, leaning against the rocky cliff. _Damn those demons._ I straightened. Asura was now loose in the world, and I needed to kill him as quickly as possible. _But how… we do not have the sufficient resources…_ "Lock, report back. Call every clan member to Halloween. We have a surprise for the Reaper." I said turning to her. She nodded, glancing towards Death City with a shiver. Her brothers put their arms around her, and they all took off. I stared at the spires of DWMA, imagining their reaction. _This is something I both look forward too, and dread._ I grinned, imagining Kage and Akuma's reaction.

_**Nice pause spot there, in my POV. So…you like? The song's nothing special; it's just something I thought to apply to DK's twisted logic. Something I forgot to mention, Kage and Akuma's name meanings. Kage is Japanese for shadow and Akuma is Japanese for devil. I thought it fit rather well for them. Akuma's name doesn't mean demon, because that's oni, and oni is too recognizable. You all know it has something to do with demons before now, didn't you? Maybe it's just me…meh… Anyway please tell me what you think. You has been rather quiet these past few chapters…O.o I do hope Medusa's death was satisfyingly epic/not epic, depending on which one of you asked. Yes, I shall explain everything eventually, but I just can't spew it all out, it's narrative momentum thing. Review, request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien!**_


	17. I Call Too!

_**If this is late, it's because the system's going daffy. Anywhich and how, is anyone wondering what Jack's planning? You will see, eventually. Oh, I just registered as a beta! Please, spread the word, I want to try betaing someone's story! And if you've got something, PM me and I'll see what's what. Let's see…nope, nothing else! (Based off of a Move AMV)**_

_Death the Kid's POV:_

I staggered in the Dispensary with the others, seeing Akuma and Kage already laid out on a pair of beds. Akuma cracked an eye open. "Yo Reaper." My mistake, it was DK. "Don't you have stuff to do or something?" Blackstar said wearily, collapsing on the floor. DK laughed. "Not really. The contract says I keep these bozos alive at all costs, and unfortunately that means my sister had knocked herself out keeping Kage alive. Akuma's still going fine. Well, not really, he's pretty much shot." He said casually, inspecting his nails. "I actually have to do all the functions myself, you know, heart goes pumpty-pump, lungs go raspy-rasp, brain goes spark-fizzle-bang-pop, that stuff." I leaned against the wall. "So he's dead?" DK coughed. "Not _technically_, he's…yeah, pretty much."

Tsubaki gasped. "He's dead?" she said sorrowfully, and DK chuckled. "Chill out doll. His mind and soul are still in here, if that's what you mean. Just needs Stein, and then he'll be right as rain. Kage's the one you should be worried about." He pointed to her lazily. "What's wrong with her?" I said in alarm, and he frowned in thought. "Umm…let's see…got it. Extensive internal bleeding, external wounds, got hit by several of the most powerful Soul Forces imaginable, dueled with Asura and lost, lost to Jack…she's been pounded." He said nonchalantly, moving his gaze to the ceiling. I gaped at him. "Will she be okay?" Maka said, leaning on Soul's weapon form. He snorted. "Highly unlikely. Do you know how much it takes to make her go down? Frankly, I'm surprised she's still alive."

I stared at him. "Have some sympathy!" I said, outraged. He snorted again. "Why? I'm a Kishin remember, and I have a vested interest in her kicking the bucket. If she dies, we go free." He said, glancing at me sidelong. I clenched my teeth and would have said more, but Kage twitched and moaned, tossing and turning. All our eyes snapped towards her, and she opened one eye. "Hey Kage. I thought I was gonna have to dump some ice water on you." DK said cheerfully, and she glared at him. "Shut it DK." She whispered, coughing a little. He smirked. "Same old same old. I missed you too." She sat up, rubbing the back of her neck. "I thought I told you to shut it." She said, voice a little stronger than last time.

He whistled innocently, putting his hands behind his head. A slight movement caught my eye, and I saw a bottle hovering above her head. Before I could shout a warning it turned, squirting water all over her head. She spluttered, glaring at him. He smirked at her. "I thought you needed some water, after all, you need hydration to recover from wounds like yours." She clenched her teeth, standing up and moving towards the bed. "They mean drinking, not like a plant." She growled, drawing back a fist. DK tsked at her. "Kage, you forget, not my body. Sure, the pain would transfer to me, but do you really want to do that to your sweet baby brother?" He said smugly, and she choked.

"WHY YOU LITTE-" She snarled, choking him. He thrashed under her silently, then shoved her off with shadows. She fell to the ground with a thump, and I heard her gasp slightly. DK rubbed his throat, smirking. Blood leaked out of a tear in her clothes, quickly staining the floor. I reached down, helping her up. "Bastard." I muttered, and she nodded, gasping. I led her towards her bed, and gently helped her into it. Stein came in, raising his eyebrows when he saw Kage and DK, but ignoring them and starting his treatment of our wounds.

_Kage's POV:_

I drifted off to sleep as Stein started on the others, and only woke up when he moved on me. It was only a few moments before I slept again, seeing he wasn't going to do anything like dissecting me. I woke up the next morning, covered in bandages and hooked up to several strange machines. "Akuma?" I said weakly into the silence, and someone on my other side coughed. "Here sis. Did we stop him?" I shook my head. "He got away. Now what do we do?" He rustled, and I turned slightly, seeing him sitting up in bed. "What can we do? We barely survived Jack, we need to rest at least a few days before we can do anything but stagger." He said, putting his head in his hands. I propped myself up on my elbows. "Hey, we aren't dead yet. Keep going strong." He smiled at me tiredly. "Yeah, I know." I gave him a weak thumbs up, sliding out from under the sheets. "Shall we stagger?" I said, offering him my arm. He chuckled, shaking his head, and got up, leaning on me a little to do so. We both managed to get upright, before walking outside slowly, needing some fresh air, and information.

_Lord Death's POV:_

"On to the next issue. Including Spirit, what's our head count so far for the gathering of the eight Death Scythes?" I asked Sid. "Well, it appears that Justin has now arrived. Counting Spirit and the other two that got in earlier, we have a total of four." I nodded. "Okay, we've got half of them at least. What are the other four up to?" He frowned in thought. "It looks like the ones in charge of Europe and West Asia are too busy with work and can't make it here right now." I frowned. "That's no good. What about the one we've got stationed down in South America?" He shrugged. "It's kinda hard to tell with all the growling and barking." I winced. "And Africa?" He looked sheepish. "Yeah, they won't take our calls." I held up a hand. "Well, I guess four of them's just gonna have to be good enough! Here's hoping!"

_***Time Skip***_

"Oh, great lord, why will you not speak your magnificent words that I may hear them and swiftly obey!?" Justin said, bowing. "Ahh…" I said. "Ohhh, this is a tragedy! I am unable to hear your voice!" He said, falling to his knees. "Umm…actually, you should-" Spirit kicked him in the back. "Take out the earphones!" he said through clenched teeth, pointing to his own ears in demonstration. Justin removed them, and bowed again. "It's good to see you all again. Justin at your service as always." He said. I nodded. "Thank you for coming all this way Death Scythes. Now then, let's get down to business. I assume you already know why I've called you to the DWMA on such short notice?" Spirit made a face, for some unknown reason. "The Kishin Asura, former member of my personal guard, has revived. Obviously, we need to discuss this."

"Despite Asura's incredible strength, he's still a big old scaredycat. I doubt he will make any moves this early on. This means the most pressing task for us at the moment is not determining how to counteract Asura's actions, but establishing a strategy for dealing with his madness wavelengths. That's the real danger now. Stein, could you answer any questions the others might have about these wavelengths?" I asked, and he nodded "Yes." Azusa looked at him. "What are they exactly? Can we consider them comparable to the soul wavelengths of the Kishin?" She asked, frowning. "Yes." Stein said. "But these wavelengths are on a godly level." Marie looked at him. "What makes the wavelengths so dangerous? What can they do?" she said.

"Everyone in the world posses at least a small amount of madness." Stein said. "I am no exception." Spirit narrowed his eyes at him. "Asura's madness wavelengths rouse the insanity that sleeps deep in peoples' souls, magnifying it." He grinned. "The madness spreads like a disease. I could feel the waves of it the moment Asura was revived." Azusa looked at him. "A plague of madness. And you're saying anyone can feel its affects?" he frowned. "Not quite. It might be relatively difficult for person like Justin to be infected by the madness." He said. Then he frowned. "Something those two Demonmeister kids said…they said that their demons, of the same caliber Asura is, were of equal and opposite power. Yes…they said "Fear and Rage can't exist in Madness". So they probably have some degree or resistance, if not immunity, to the madness wavelength."

"Also, for the time being at least, I think outbreak will be limited. I doubt it will have much effect on ordinary people as they go about their daily business." He said, and then Justin asked "Then what major problem does the madness pose initially?" Azusa clicked her glasses. "It will strengthen the wicked." Stein turned to her, grinning. That's correct. For example, dismembering living things has always intrigued me. The madness enhances that." I bounced. "And?" He frowned. "There's much more. The wavelengths will awaken witches who are now dormant, and they will affect more than just people. Natural disasters, unusual weather phenomena, all sorts of horrors are possible." Spirit frowned. "Enemies that have been inactive for a long time will begin moving." He said.

Azusa peered up at him, and he flinched. "The reason we're in this situation is the blundering of these two idiots." She said, jabbing a thumb at Stein. Spirit choked. "Lord Death, have you given any thought as to what should be done with them?" She said, ignoring him. He growled. "Why you little-" I winced. "Yes, about that…" Spirit flinched. "I'm thinking a very slight staff reassignment might be in order. Spirit screamed. "WHAT? NOOOOO…." He collapsed on the ground. "My happy life with my daughter it's gone! Gone for good. What future can I ever have now? How am I going to explain this to Maka? I don't wanna see that sad look on her dear little face…"

"No, no! Calm down Spirit." I said in alarm. "You're still going to be my personal weapon." He jumped up, turning around to face me. "ARE YOU REALLY GONNA KEEP ME!?" he shouted. "You shouldn't be surprised. You are the only Death Scythe who is actually a Death Scythe. Have a little more confidence in yourself." I said. He and Justin bowed in front of me, saying in unison "Oh lord, you are truly a kind and benevolent ruler!" I continued. "Recently I've sent you off to serve as Stein's temporary weapon whenever he needed you. That has to change. You must avoid leaving the academy as much as physically possible from now on." He gave me a thumbs up, smiling at me dazzlingly. "Understood sir!" he said.

"One other change." I said. "I think we should have an additional Death Scythe stationed here to fortify the DWMA's defenses. Marie, I'm assigning that duty to you. I'd like you to be Stein's new partner!" She gasped. "Huh? Why me?" she asked, pointing to herself. Her eyes started to water. "Oh no! Please, you can't be serious! I've completely lost the motivation to work! I even chose to be in charge of Oceania because I knew it'd be peaceful and easy! If I'm always busy here at the academy it'll take me even longer to find a husband!" Stein put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. I have a feeling your obsessive tendencies will come in handy." He said bluntly. "Don't say that…" she whimpered.

Azusa looked up at me. "Lord Death sir, what task would you like me to take?" she asked. "You'll use your wide field of vision to locate Asura, wherever he's run off to. You'll also be in charge of Oceania while Marie is stationed here at the school." I said. "Right." I turned to Justin. "And as for your task Justin…ah, Justin?" He stared off into space, not hearing me. This time it was both Azusa and Spirit that kicked him. He fell, earbuds popping out of his ears. "Well, never mind Justin for now." I said. "Obviously, life here at the DWMA is going to change in the coming weeks. We're entering a difficult time, but at least it'll be exciting!" I said excitedly, clapping my hands

"Got that right Reaper." A voice said, and we all turned to see Kage and Akuma limping down the hallway. "Oh! Hi guys." I said guiltily, rubbing the back of my head. I still felt bad about ordering their deaths and stuff. "So, how can we help?" Kage said, rolling up her sleeves. I scratched my head. "Help?" She rolled her eyes. "Well, we are DWMA students! You never canceled the contract." She said repremandingly, and her brother nodded I blinked. "Oh…right…" I said uncertainly and Azusa stepped forward. "How do we know you won't betray us? What's your interest in serving the DWMA?" she asked harshly, and I winced.

Kage smirked. "Nothing much. Everyone else is after us, Witches, Nightstalker, the lot. We thought it'd be nice to have you guys on our side." She said casually. "And you'd be fools to turn down a pair of Demonmeisters, with Kishins, no less." Azusa frowned. "You claim to have Kishin souls inside your own? How does that work?" Kage shook her head. "No, you misunderstand. We do not _claim_, because they are in our souls. Actually, they're not even there. It's complicated. Their minds, souls, and consciousnesses are melded into our own, irretrievably. We'll have them shouting in our heads until the day we die." She said matter-of-factly, rubbing her shoulder. A ghostlike figure suddenly floated away from Akuma, chuckling. "Well put, Kage. Greetings, Death Scythes and Reaper. I'm the Demon King, DK for short. My sister's hiding right now."

Kage's shadow stretched out, swaying above him. "Say that again?" it hissed, and he coughed. "Okay, fine, never mind." It grunted in satisfaction and shaped the shadow into a different form, a woman with a startling resemblance to Kage. "Reaper…Death Scythes…" she said, nodding to them all. "Nightmare Queen, at your service, for a price." She said mockingly, bowing. "Or as these two fools call me, Queenie." We all stared. "Are they…in control?" Spirit said finally, and they all laughed. "Control them? Yeah right." Kage snorted. "They're bound, if that's what you mean." Akuma said, wiping his eyes, chuckling.

_Jack's POV:_

"Are we all ready?" I asked, looking across the dimly lit meeting room. "Don't like it." A Kishinmeister said grudgingly, peering into his beer cup. "It's not our way." I snarled, slamming a fist down on the table. All the Nightstalker around jumped and edged away. "Say that again." I said, my fist glowing dangerously. The Kishinmeister gulped, shaking his head frantically. "Nothing." He stammered, and I nodded in satisfaction. "I know it is not the true and proper path." I said grandly, standing up. "But what choice do we have? Let them kill us all? Or fight back, and kill them once and for all!" I shouted, the people echoing me with a rousing cheer.

Lock looked at them sadly through a crack in the door, shaking her head. "What will the others do?" she asked her brothers softly. Barrel sighed. "I don't know sis. I just don't know." He said wearily. Shock paced the small confines of the wine cellar. "What can we do to warn them?" he snapped, glaring at his siblings. Lock shook her head. "We've been over this. Until he makes his move, we're all pawns on his chessboard. Just as numerous, just as…expendable." She said softly, and they all shuddered, imagining the fate that their friends would fall to.

_**Dun, dun, dadum….okay, seriously people, start talking! I don't have to post one of these every day you know! DX I will go on a writer's strike! (just kidding…maybe…) Again, I'm explaining as fast as I can plausibly. My hand hurts from typing! Warning to you, from on or about the time of June 28 to July 16, I will not be online at all! So, no updates, no PM answers, no nothing. I'll be in England, Scotland, Wales (only for one day though) and both sides/parts/whatever the heck you call them of Ireland. I'm going on a People to People trip, for those of you that have heard of it. So if I'm in the middle of this story, or almost done with it, TOUGH LUCK FOR YOU THEN! Hehe, sorry. But seriously, no going online for the whole trip, because I'll be having far too much fun. Better hope I finish before then! Review, Request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien!**_


	18. Reunion and Comfort

_**This technically does not count as two chapters in one day, because the chapter I already put out was intended for yesterday, but the system wouldn't allow me to get on my account at all, until they fixed it today. So two chapters today, no harm done, right? Right? Oh heck, who am I kidding, THIS CAN NEVER BE FORGIVEN! I MUST ATTEMPT TO MAKE IT UP TO YOU ALL, BUT HOW!? Hmm…I got nothing. I'll just write this out, and try to make it up to you guys that way. Emma-sempai, where did you go, and who with? Anywhich and how…let's get this going! (Based off of a Trick and Treat AMV)**_

_Kage's POV:_

We followed Maka down the cold and echoing halls of DWMA's prison level. "So…we're saying hi to Crona, is it?" I said, frowning in remembrance. "I was talking to him for a long time, trying to persuade him to come out, but he was too afraid." Sid explained, and I sniffed. Due to Queenie, I could smell such things, and the poor kid was practically reeking of fear. I could smell it all the way from here. "In the end, he told me that because I was a zombie, he didn't know how to deal with me." Maka nodded. "Okay. I see." Sid sighed. "He's incredibly depressed, and I can't think what else to do. His room's down that way." He said, pointing to our left. "So I finally get to see Crona!" Maka said excitedly. Sid nodded. "You seemed to have found some way to connect to and understand his soul wavelength. Kage, Akuma, you know what it's like having someone like Ragnarok in your mind. I'd like you to teach him some things so he can become more accustomed to the academy." He said.

Maka turned to him. "It's no problem, I'm happy to help out." She said. We both nodded. "Poor kid needs some friends." I said. Sid scratched the back of his head. "Thank you." We all turned, hearing something from the right-hand hall. "Oh, I can't believe I'm stranded in a place like this. It's dark and drafty down here, I'm cold and I'm hungry…" Marie staggered out of the darkness, whimpering. "Oh she finally showed up. Take her around the school too while you're at it." Sid said casually. She didn't show any sign of hearing us. "I'm just walking in circles, where am I supposed to go?" She perked up finally seeing us. "SID! It's you!" She picked Maka up and moved her out of the way. "Pardon me a second." She glared at Sid. "I was so lost, I thought I was gonna die down here!" She yelled at him, and he raised an eyebrow. "You used to go to this school to Marie." He said.

Thankfully, even she made it to Crona's room without interruption. Maka knocked on the door twice, before opening it and calling out "Coming in! Hey-" She looked around, and I looked over her shoulder. "There's no one here." She said in disappointment, and a very quiet and sad voice said hesitantly "Maka?" She peeked around the door, and I did so as well. A very thin boy with pinkish hair and a black robe-dress thing was huddled in a corner. "What are you doing over there!?" Maka said in shock. "I feel safer when I'm tucked in the corner like this." He said happily, and I raised an eyebrow. _I feel bad for this guy already._

Maka walked over, bending down. "C'mon, you look like somebody's given you a time out. Here, stand up." She said, offering him her hand. "Yeah, okay." He said, taking it and letting her help him up. "We're going to show you around the academy today." She said, and he looked down. "Oh, you are? Uh, I don't know…" he said nervously, and she held up a hand. "You know, I'm really happy to have you here Crona." She said, and he smiled slightly. "Yeah." He said, touching it with a finger. "Hi! I'm Kage and this is my brother Akuma!" I said, walking around the door and waving. He looked up at the both of us, panic in his eyes. "No, it's okay, they're really nice!" Maka said, pushing him towards us.

"H-hi." He said, looking away. I held out my hand, smiling at him encouragingly. "Hey Crona. Maka's told me a lot about you. I hope you can be my friend too." Akuma coughed behind me. "Ahem *faker* ahem." I subtly stepped on his toe. "I'm a Demonmeister, and so is my brother, although he's my weapon partner, so we're all kinda in the same situation." I said, and he smiled nervously and shook my hand gently before dropping it and backing away. "Hey, hey!" Marie said, popping in through the door as well. "And this lady is Mrs. Marie." Maka said, turning and pointing at her. "I'm new here too. Well, I'm new as a teacher anyway, tomorrow is my first day. I know how you feel Crona; we're in the same boat. But don't worry; I'm sure we'll both do just fine."

He winced. "Oh, okay." He said in a small voice, and Sid stuck his head through the door. "Oh I see now, show him he's not alone. Nice technique Marie." Crona suddenly huddled back in the corner, rocking and muttering to himself. "Crona?" Maka said, looking at him. "The blue man is back again he scares me!" Marie shoved Sid out the door. "Sid, why don't you just stay out here?" Crona stood up again, clutching Maka's elbow. "You can relax, I know Sid there looks like a big scary blue gorilla, but I promise he's actually a pretty nice guy." Crona winced. "Okay…" he said. Marie straightened up. "All right then, we don't want to keep your education waiting any more now do we? Let's get going!" Crona suddenly jerked, and a burst of blackish liquid fountained out his back.

This little creature formed, with an X across his black face and tiny little balls for hands. "Hi there minnie Ragnarok." Maka said, and he growled. "Aww, what is that!? It's so cute!" Marie said, gushing over it. He yelled at Maka. "What'd you do to me you ugly cow!?" She turned away. "I don't know what you mean…" She said innocently, and he snarled. "What are you doing here? I never agreed to be your friend!" She leaned closer to him. "Aww, I'm feeling so much closer to you now that you can't hurt me." She said, patting his head. He grabbed Crona's hand and used it to flip her skirt. Akuma, me, and Marie quickly turned and closed our eyes.

"You don't have much to look at under there do you…cow." Ragnarok said, looking away. DK, unheard by the others, snickered. _I like this guy's sense of style._ He said into our minds, and we both mentally shouted _SHUT IT DK! _Maka moved in for the mother of all Maka chops, but Ragnarok ducked so it hit Crona. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to, I'll never do it again…" he sobbed, huddling in the corner again. Maka quickly said "No Crona, it's okay! I'm the one who should apologize!" she shouted. I sighed. _We have a very long way to go._

_***Time Skip***_

"Well, how do you like our humble academy so far?" Soul said, leaning against Dr. Stein's desk. "Do you think you could get used to being here?" I glanced at Crona, wondering what his answer would be. "No, this place is definitely not for me." He said meekly, looking sad. "You're just a little nervous. You'll be fine, don't worry." Marie said, and he crouched down. "Unuh. Can't deal with this. I wanna go back to my corner." He said. Soul jumped at him, straining against the hold Maka had on his jacket "Maybe a nice hard kick would help!" he growled. "Down boy, quit it." Maka said, pulling him back.  
_Is it just me, or is he starting to be a lot like you guys?_ DK whispered at us. We both glanced at each other, and then back at Soul. Sure, he had taken to wearing a black jacket just like us, but we figured that was because he thought it was cool. _Nah…_ We all said, shaking our heads. "Oh hey, I know, why not write some poetry, how does that sound?" She said, bending down in front of him. Soul snorted. "Poetry, you gotta be kidding me!" he laughed. Maka quickly Maka-chopped him, then turned back to Crona. "I write poems a lot when something's bothering me, it really helps." Soul apparently had not learned his lesson. "Oh come on, how much more emo can you possibly get? You can talk to me if something's wrong you know!" Another Maka chop.

_Stein's going to need a new desk._ DK thought impassively, and we both nodded. "Why don't we try writing a poem together?" She said, standing up. "If you say so I guess I can give it a try." He said nervously, and for the next thirty minutes scribbled on a piece of paper. "D-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-" He stammered, holding a scrap of paper out to Maka. "Are you all done?" She asked, and he nodded. "Yeah…" She took it, and Marie looked over her shoulder. "I wanna see…" Soul, sitting on the broken desk, scoffed. "This is so stupid." There was a moment of silence "So, uh, how is it?" Crona said, fidgeting. Both Marie and Maka walked over to a corner. "Huh?" Soul said, staring at them. I scratched my head. _What the heck?_

"This makes me wish I had never been born…" Maka moaned. "It's so…_sad_…" Marie whimpered. Suddenly our resident genius slammed the door open. "Hyah guys!" He stomped in, wearing no shirt and hold an exercise towel over his shoulder. "What are you lamemos doing in here, the weather's amazing! We shouldn't be locked up in school, let's get going!" The gloom cloud over Marie and Maka deepened. "Well, I guess it does get a little gloomy without Blackstar around, but fear not! Now that I'm here, the sun has come out from behind the clouds." He said, giving us a thumbs up. Soul shoved the paper in his face. "Read this." He looked down. "Huh?" there was a moment of silence, then- "I wish I'd never been born." Blackstar whimpered, crouching down beside Marie.

Soul looked down at the paper. "This has amazing destructive power…" he said. Then- "I wish that I'd never been born." He moaned, moving beside Blackstar. "And so poem emoness spread like a plague throughout the students of DWMA." Akuma said sarcastically, and I snorted. Crona joined them. "I wish that I'd never been born." He said, which was probably a normality for him. I glanced down the line. "I wish that I'd never come back to life." Sid said, and I jumped. "What the hell Sid? When did you get in here?" Soul asked, voicing my thoughts. We sighed, shaking our heads, and walked out. I smiled, closing my eyes and letting the sun's rays warm my face. "Ah, Kage, there you are." A voice said, and my eyes snapped open. I caught Akuma's swords and jumped onto the door ledge, waiting for the attack. Jack was standing a little way off on the path, smirking and shaking his head.

"Your reflexes are as sharp as ever, I'm glad to see." He said in approval, and I snarled at him. "What do you want now?" I hissed, and his smile dropped. "As you have no doubt realized, the Kishin is too much of a threat for us to leave alive." I nodded cautiously, wondering what this had to do with him coming here. He smirked. "So, I am proposing a temporary truce, both with us and the Reaper, so we can hunt down and kill him easier." I stared at him. "You're insane." I said mockingly, shaking my head. "There are a hundred ways that won't work. We don't trust you, the Reaper doesn't trust you, and you can alley with the witches if you need to. No."

He sighed. "What if I gave you information? Taught the students, under supervision of course. The Nightstalker are the Reaper's to command, through me." He said confidently, and we both frowned. _Is he lying?_ I asked Akuma. _Don't know. What do we do?_ He said back, vibrating with nervousness. _I say bring him to the Reaper, if you can._ DK's voice said suddenly, and I nodded. "One wrong move and I stab you through the heart." I said, jumping down and poking him in the back to get him moving. "Of course." He chuckled, walking inside like he owned the place. We managed to get him all the way to the Death Room without any curious students finding us, which was nothing short of a miracle. "Lord Death, Skeleton Jack wants to have a talk with you." I said loudly, glaring at Jack.

_Lord Death's POV:_

"Oh, and what do you want?" I said, when I saw that indeed Skeleton Jack was standing in front of me, smirking. "Thank you Kage, that will be all." He said to her, and she hissed at him, jabbing his back with a sword I recognized as Akuma. She backed away respectfully, glaring at him through hooded eyes. "I came here to propose a temporary, mind you, alliance for our two groups. Until the Kishin is beaten." He said promptly, and I stared at him. "WHAT!?" Spirit spluttered, and I shook my head. "Why on earth do you want an alliance with us?" I said, jabbing a thumb at myself. "You helped Medusa resurrect the Kishin, after all." He frowned thinly. "I owed her. I repaid my debt, and now I wish to kill the Kishin." Kage snorted. "What did you owe her that made you compromise your principles like _that_?" She spat at him, and he sighed.

"Kage, you need to learn to be quiet when your elders are speaking. Simply enough, when the purge happened, I was there, and she said she would spare my life if I helped her resurrect the Kishin. I could not allow myself to be killed just yet, so here we are." Kage just shook her head. "Say we do agree to form an alliance." I said. "What would we do?" Jack shrugged. "Our forces could waste a lot of time clashing otherwise. I have allies you need, and you have allies we need. It would simply be business." He said stiffly, and Spirit and I exchanged glances. Kage glared at Jack, but then flicked a glance towards us, perhaps anticipating our decision. "Very well. We will form an alliance." I said slowly, wondering what I was getting myself into.

_**There, that's all nice and cleared up. *cough* NOT *cough* Hehe. Anyway, there's a funny thing about the line where Soul's "How much more emo" and stuff. See, me and my mom were walking to the library, and discussing something, and she goes like "Well, Goth, or whatever you call it nowadays!" (I can't remember what we were arguing about.) "No mom, not Goth." *blinks* "Well, emu or no, not emu, what's that one that starts with E and is really short?" *doubled over laughing* "EMO mom, **__emo__**!" *shrugs* "Whatever" *still laughing* "Seriously mom, emu?" *laughs in embarrassment* "Shut up" Gotta love my family. Weirdest family holiday tradition ever, we take the gifts we don't want that we got for our birthdays and Christmas, and every Winter Break after Christmas we wrap them and gamble for them at our family reunion. No joke, we actually roll dice and everything. I got a watch and a bunch of candles this year, which is a much better haul than last year. (I actually like candles, and don't have a watch.) Strange bunch, aren't we? Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien!**_


	19. Death, for the Demon

_**Hey people! I'm really cruising through the series, aren't I? Already to the end of Season Two…dang…and I'm skipping that bit where Crona and the others fight Giriko, because I don't like him and my OCs are busy elsewhere. I will use bits from the manga here and there, but I'm running out of books. Oh, just remembered, I GOT BOOK TEN AND ELEVEN TODAY! Happy dance! That takes me to a little after the fight with Brew (which is just as epic in the manga) and ends right where Medusa shows up again. But other than that, I'm fresh out of manga material. *sad face* I actually incorporated a bit last chapter, when Soul looks at them poem, he says "What so horrible about a stupid poem?" in the anime, but in the manga, which is in my opinion much funnier; he says "this has amazing destructive power…" AND IT DOES! I can picture it now…wait…LIGHTBULB! Also, me and my sister did a oneshot fanfic that's freaking hilarious, check it out! It's called "Death by May and Jay", should be uploaded sometime now or soon.**_

_Kage's POV:_

"Okay, thanks Crona. Have fun on your mission!" I said cheerfully, clenching the piece of paper tightly in my hand. "Yeah, okay. See you." He said meekly, walking away with his head bowed. I grinned, holding my hand over my eyes as I waved the piece of paper excitedly. "Akuma! Do you see how this works! Perfect revenge!" He shook his head, avoiding glancing at the piece of paper. "This is stupid. They're demons, there's no way they'll fall for it." I glared at him. "How do you know? Unexpected weaknesses abound in such people…" I said, gloating over the piece of paper with my eyes closed. He sighed, shaking his head. I grinned, summoning Queenie. She and DK flowed out of the air, an identical look of annoyance on their faces.

"Read this." I said, shoving the piece of paper in their faces. Queenie took it, DK peering over her shoulder in an attempt to see it. There was a moment of silence as I giggled in anticipation, and Akuma watched them with hooded eyes. Queenie silently handed it to DK, before wailing and running towards the balcony. _That is the most depressing thing I've ever read or seen!_ She screamed in our heads, crouching on the balcony and jumping into empty air. DK and Akuma stared at her and I collapsed, laughing so hard my stomach hurt. DK peeked at it tentatively, squinting in reluctance. Akuma and I stared at him eagerly. _This is stupid, it's just…a…poem…WAIT FOR ME!_ He shouted, dropping the paper like it was on fire and following Queenie off the balcony in a swan dive.

We collapsed on the ground, shrieking with laughter, and I accidentally peeked at the poem. "Hey…wait a minute…" I said, picking it up. "Akuma, look at this." He peered over my shoulder, and we stared at the poem silently. "That's a cool writing style." He said, touching the jagged handwriting with his forefinger. "I like the allusions of madness and despair." I said, re-reading a few lines. We both scratched our heads. "What's so depressing about this?" We said in unison, and I heard a faint shout from below us. "Oh come on, you have got to be kidding me! _They're _invulnerable to it and we aren't? I demand a refund on our moral values!" DK's voice wailed, and we snickered.

"Should we…" I asked Akuma, looking at him out of the corner of my eye. He grinned, looking inside. "We shouldn't…" He said slowly, shaking his head. We both ran for the doors. "WE WILL!" We both shouted, searching for a certain Nightstalker.

_***Time Skip***_

Jack peered at Crona's poem, frowning. "And what," he said frostily as we smirked at each other. "Is this supposed to be?" I beamed at him. "It's a poem! Read it." I said cheerfully, and he raised an eyebrow, looking down. His lips moved as he silently read the poem, and then he put it down. He bowed to us and walked away, and bit my lip in disappointment. "I thought that would get him for sure." I said, kicking at the ground, and Akuma sighed, snapping his fingers. Lock walked around the corner, looking around like she was searching for someone. "Have you guys seen Jack?" She asked, and we pointed down the hall. She nodded, thanking us, and quickly walked around the corner. There was a shriek and she immediately ran back around, holding a hand over her mouth. "What?" I asked, aware that the game might not be over yet. She stared at us. "He was…._crying_!" She said, and we all surrendered to laughter.

_DK's POV:  
_ I sat up, looking around. Queenie and I were invisible to all but our hosts' eyes, but I sensed something watching us. I mentally prodded her, and she sat up as well. She sniffed twice, then her eyes widened. "It's him." She hissed, and I gulped. _Crap…_ We quickly stood up and faded into the spirit realm, and there he was, the Pumpkin King. "Master." My sister said, kneeling on the ground. I copied her. " 'Sup boss?" I asked nervously, and he growled. "I ordered you two to stay in that crypt for a thousand years, and yet here you are, free. Explain to me how my orders were unclear in that matter." He said icily, and I gulped. "Umm…misunderstood might be better, and much less fatal." I said nervously, and his gaze swiveled to mine. "Misunderstood?" He growled, and I yelped and covered my head, waiting to be struck down on the spot.

"I did not leave room to be misunderstood, nor disobeyed. I commanded you to be bound in your own bones for a thousand years. Your souls are free, your consciousness is free. Explain this." He said quietly, and I cowered on the ground, whimpering. With the Pumpkin King, the calmer he got, the more you were in trouble. _Sis…help me…_ "Leave him alone!" _Thank you..._ She stood up, glaring at him. "Those kids came in the crypt, alright!" She said, avoiding his gaze. "They came, and they somehow released us. They must have been a close enough genetic match that the binding applied to them too." She said softly, and he smiled. It showed his sharp, spiky teeth, and I swallowed hard, thinking of how close my soul had been to entering that maw. "Thank you, Nightmare Queen. You always were my favorite. Now leave." He said, and we vanished, not needing any prompting whatsoever.

I inhaled and exhaled slowly, letting my sister hug me gently. My soul was trembling. I had never been so afraid in my life, not even on the very first day I had ever been threatened with Death…

_***Flashback***_

"_Mommy?" My big sis asked, pushing the charred door open. I followed in her wake, glancing at the smoke still drifting from the burned ruins of our village. "Momm-" She said, but gasped and stopped. I looked over her shoulder, seeing a huge black figure with a farm tool, much like the ones our father had used, in his hands. My frightened mind took in every detail as he slowly turned. It wasn't a farm tool at all, but a scythe. One of the creature's grotesque arms had the word "death" written on it, and I knew at once that this thing, this monster, was indeed Death, for us at least."More Kishin…" He growled, shaking his head in disgust. We clung to each other as he approached, bringing the scythe up. Suddenly, I felt a flash of anger._

_Whatever Death wanted, it took. You can't run from it. But you can fight it. "Leave us alone." I snapped, pushing my sister behind me."We haven't done anything!" He still advanced. "It's not what you've done, it's what you are." He said simply, getting ready for the killing blow. He brought it down, and I held up my hands in a futile attempt to ward the blade off. There was a clang, and I looked up in surprise to see that my arms had turned into black blades, blades stopping Death's descent. I shoved at him quickly and he stumbled, caught off guard. We ran, ran for the woods, ran from Death and his Scythe._

_Months later, as we grew stronger in the dark of the woods, taught by Kishin and witches, we realized our parents had been hiding our power from us for years. But we didn't care. They were dead and cold in the ground, their souls consumed by the Scythe of Death. Gone. Useless. Nonexistent. No importance. Our only loyalty was to ourselves. Eventually, as we grew in power and were able to cloak our souls, we joined the elite group of eight that Death had formed. My sister soon gained an ally and confidant in Asura, but I saw the madness waiting within him and warned her off. Sadly for both of them, it didn't end well, and they both hated and feared each other since. He slipped into madness soon after that, and we were part of the group that hunted him down._

_We realized it was of utmost importance to us to flee, but Death caught us in his grasp again, and this time, he finished the job. As we drifted alone in our death, we heard a voice. It whispered to us, promised us things, gave us advice and favors. Slowly, we agreed to what it asked. We agreed to surrender without a shadow of recovery our humanity, and were reborn as demonic spirits, in service to the Pumpkin King. We were much stronger than him, but he could destroy us easily, because he held the power to erase our souls with a mere word. Our name. The instant Death had first laid eyes on us, we no longer had names. The prey does not have a title, but as the hunters, we soon got one we liked. Demon King. Nightmare Queen. The Devil Twins. _

_We were now bound to the Nightstalker, a group we had sometimes associated with when alive. So, through the years, we served them, taking lives when we wished, slurping souls at our leisure. We were no longer the wolf in a sheepskin, but the well fed hunting dog, always straining at the leash for its next meal, its next prey, at least to the humans. To the Pumpkin King, we were beaten lapdogs, begging to dance attendance on him, fawning on him, even groveling at his feet. We hated it, but we hated Death more. But then…then Kage and Akuma came._

_***Flashback End***_

_Kage's POV:_

I yawned, hearing Maka tell the others how great she felt. Apparently she had woken up Arachne on her exracirruclar, and now we had to speed up class. _Maybe they'll even come up to our level sometime…_I thought, playing hangman with Akuma. Our version always featured Jack as the dummy, which made it much more fun. "Hey, wanna come to our place for a party after school!? Crona's coming!" Patty squealed, jumping up in my face. "Uh, yeah, I guess…" I said, flushing slightly and avoiding looking at Kid, who was suddenly fascinated with his binder. Suddenly there was immediate silence in our vicinity, and I saw a scalpel projecting from the wall near Tsubaki's head. "I'd advise you to cut out the chatter. Or else, next time I won't hit the wall." Stein said, and Akuma and I snickered. The door suddenly slammed open, and Blackstar barged in.

"Hey, sorry I'm late." He said, and I gaped, eye twitching. _He just…apologized for something!?_ Akuma shouted in my head, and I nodded, speechless. "Another fight?" Stein said, standing up. "Yeah, it's cool, Mrs. Marie was a supervisor." He said, coming to a stop right in front of him. "And how'd it go?" Stein asked. Blackstar snorted. "I am the biggest star in this academy." He said, giving Stein a thumbs up. "Obviously I won." Stein shoved him back out the door. "Winner or loser you're still late for class. You can enjoy yourself out here in the hallway." He said, before closing the door. "What's been getting into Blackstar lately?" Maka asked, looking at Soul. "He's fighting so much." He shrugged. "Yeah I know. Ten fights and ten victories without using his weapon. Something's up." He said.

"Like I told you all last week we're going to be starting a new lesson today, so I hope you're ready." Stein said, walking over to the chalkboard. "As you know the Kishin's madness has woken the witch Arachne, and with her revival the organization Arachnophobia is once again active. Despite our…agreement with the Nightstalker, this is a serious problem." He slammed a poster up on the board, which said _Duel arts._ "So now it's time to learn about duel arts." He said, quickly fixing the corner as it drooped. "It's simpler if I don't explain it in words." He turned around. "This lesson you'll learn by doing not listening. Some of you are slower than others, so we'll see."

Liz and patted nudged each other. "He was looking at us when he said that!" Liz said, and Patty gasped. "Ohhh." Kid sighed. "You aren't really even embarrassed, are you?" he said, and Stein held up a clipboard. "Alright, if I call your name, please step to the front of the classroom." He said, and looked down. "First up, we have Ox and Harver. Get down here." He looked up. "Our newly recovered student, Maka." Maka jumped up, clenching her fists. "Sweet!" he looked back down. "With Soul of course." He turned. "Lastly…Blackstar, get back in here." He called, and he came in, sweating heavily. "In or out, make up your mind already would ya?" He asked, wiping his forehead. Maka looked at him. "Uh, why are you all sweaty?" She asked, but he didn't even look at her. "I'm concerned you may destroy the classroom if you use your weapon for this, so you're on your own." Stein said, and Tsubaki sat back down, disappointed.

"Up until this point, your training in Resonating Souls has been exclusively with your respective partners. But the fact of the matter is you're still kids, a single Soul Resonance likely won't be enough against the type of enemies we're facing now. So what I'm going to teach you today is how to work together to Resonate Souls as a team." He said, and Maka blanched. "All five of us are supposed to match wavelengths?" She asked, and Stein nodded. "I realize this is a new concept for you, but give it a try anyway, come after me with all you've got." He said invitingly, and Maka raised an eyebrow. "Already? Just like that?" She asked, and he turned his screw a couple times. "Bring it on, I'll dissect you all." He leered, and they all swallowed hard. "Creepy…" They muttered, and then Blackstar jumped in front of Stein. "Hell ya!" he shouted, and me and Akuma rolled our eyes.

"So whose turn is it?" he asked, and I looked down. "Mine." I said, and we continued our game. "You guys don't wanna watch?" Liz asked, and I waved a hand at her, not looking up. "No offense against Maka and the others, but they don't even know where to begin for a Chain Resonance." I said apologetically, and Akuma nodded. She shrugged and turned back around, and sure enough, several minutes later, Stein was rubbing his head, with Maka, Soul, and Blackstar laid out on the floor, gently steaming. "That was even worse than I'd expected." He said as the rest of the classroom laughed. Blackstar suddenly sat up. "I'm done with this. Professor, I'm gonna beat the crap out of Ox now, will you act as fight supervisor?" He asked, facing off with Ox. "Save your fighting for after class." Stein said.

"Whatever you say Professor, but Blackstar and I are going to have to settle this eventually." Ox said, and Stein sighed. "Why do I bother?" he asked himself, and Akuma and I snickered. "Do you think you stand a chance against the Royal Thunder Commander?" Ox said, brandishing Harver, and Blackstar punched his face, yelling "SHUT UP!" Ox skidded across the floor, landing right by the seats. "That makes eleven straight victories." Liz said, and Blackstar looked up at her. "But is it really a victory if your opponent was _that_ pathetic?" he asked, putting his hands on his hips. Stein sighed. "I ask them to work together and they beat each other up instead. So much for that. Even if we did have all the time in the world it still may not be enough. They don't seem to get it." He said in annoyance, and then looked up at us. "Kage, Akuma, get down here please." We looked up, startled, then both shrugged and walked down. "Now, you two do know how to use Chain Resonance?" He asked, and we nodded.

He smirked and called out "Lock, Shock, Barrel! Come in here please." They walked in, and we waved to each other. "Everyone, please pay attention. Kage and the others will show you how to _properly_ do a Chain Resonance." He said to the class, glaring at Blackstar as he sat back down. We all shook our heads and faced off. "Meister style." I whispered, and Lock and the others nodded. I caught Akuma and let my soul blossom. Lock grabbed Barrel's hand, twirling his staff form a few times before slamming it on the ground. Shock grinned, filling the air around him with his Soul Force energy. Our souls pulsed, and we all closed our eyes, concentrating. _Show me your souls…okay, Lock, let's connect to Shock and show the meisters how Nightstalker do things!_ She smirked and a few tendrils came out her spiky soul, connecting to mine with a flash as our newly combined souls swelled.

We both sent out a tendril to Shock, and our Chain Resonance expanded to just below the first row of seats, pulsing rhythmically. Our orange souls were now merged, spiky like Lock's, shadowy like mine, and crackling with power like Shock's. We all opened our eyes, turning to the awestruck meisters with a smirk on our collective faces. "You can stop now." Stein said, lighting a cigarette and blowing out a stream of smoke. "Terminate." I said clearly, and we were all blown backwards as our power fled. I skidded on the ground, crouching so I didn't slam into the desks. Lock and Barrel separated, and Shock landed on the wall. Everyone gasped, but then let it out as Lock sat up, Barrel transformed back to human form, and Shock walked calmly back down the wall, hands in his pockets. _Showoffs._ I mentally snickered, and they all smirked and shrugged. _Hey, you could have done what we did, but no, you gotta go for the gold. _I thought, standing back upright and walking back to my desk.

_***Time Skip***_

"Stop fussing already." Akuma said as we walked up the steps to Kid's house. I blushed, letting go of my sleeves and taking a deep breath. "Sorry…" I said, rubbing the back of my head. _There will be boys aplenty, fussing makes you look desperate._ DK said mockingly, straightening his tie. We both rolled our eyes. "You do remember nobody will go out with what looks like a ghost?" Akuma said, knocking on the door. DK sniffed, nose in the air. _You are far too pessimistic and gloomy. I'm a coffin half-full guy, not a coffin half-empty. You wait and see, I'll get a date._ He said loftily, frowning. "He says I'm gloomy and then makes a coffin analogy. Hypocrite." Akuma said, looking at me out of the corner of his eye. I snickered, rolling my eyes. _How long does it take to open a damn door!?_ DK roared, drawing back his leg to kick it. Luckily for Kid's door, it opened immediately. "Oh, hi guys." Liz said, inviting us in. "Wait…is that a ghost!?" She squeaked, pointing to DK. He sighed and shook his head. _See what prejudice I have to fight all the time?_ He said wearily, and we clapped our hands over our mouths to stifle laughter.

"Ignore him, he's an idiot." Akuma said, walking in. "Wave one of Crona's poems in his face if it gets really bad." I warned her, before following him. She stared after us, then squeaked as DK floated past, heading for the snack bar. He grabbed a cookie, but his hand went right through it, and he stared at it in annoyance. _Akuma, be a pal and help me out, will ya?_ He called, floating over to us and jabbing a thumb at the offending cookie. Akuma sighed and walked over, and I shook my head sadly. I looked over to see Crona and Kid looking at the room, and meandered over just in time to see Maka punch Blackstar away from Crona. "What was that for!?" he asked, sitting up. "Don't bully Crona." She said, putting her hands on her hips. "What? Someone's bullying Crona?" he asked, completely hearing her wrong and jumping up. "Crona, if someone's ever giving you a hard time, you just let old Blackstar know." He said, putting his hands on Crona's shoulders. "I'll throw them out the nearest window." He said, grinning up at him Crona blinked. "Why is everyone…so nice…to someone like me?"

I cut in. "Heck, if they made friends with us, you're just a hop, skip and a jump." I said, slinging my arm over his shoulders. He smiled at me hesitantly. "What about me? I bet you ain't got anything to say about that!" Ragnarok said, popping out of his back. I patted his head. "Buddy, I have a Kishin in my head all day. You ain't got nothing on her. Right Queenie?" I asked, and she ghosted out of me, leering at Ragnarok, who was suddenly much quieter. "Right. See you Crona." She said, bowing to him and disappearing back into me. Ragnarok gulped. "Who the hell was she?" I shrugged. "_My_ personal version of Ragnarok." I said jokingly, and everyone laughed. Liz tapped my shoulder. "We got a mission." She whispered in my ear, and we walked away.

"What's up?" I asked, seeing Kid and Patty changing into school clothes."We're going to the Sahara." He said, twisting his metal skull on. I raised an eyebrow, calling for Akuma. "The…desert?" I asked, summoning my jacket and sliding it on. Akuma popped in, already ready to go. He transformed, and I slid him into his sheaths. "You've heard of the Runaway express, right?" Kid asked, picking up Beelzebub. "The train that "hasn't stopping in a thousand years"? Yeah, we even hid on it once." I said, putting my hair up in a ponytail. "It's being powered by one of those magic tools." He said, catching Liz and Patty. "Arachnophobia wants to get their hands on it. Our mission is to stop them." He said, and I nodded. "But why us?" Liz asked, and he smirked. "The train moves at over 300 miles an hour. We're the only ones who can keep up with something like that." He said, and I swallowed hard.

_**Before you all yell at me, let me point out that in the manga, they leave for the runaway express at the party. I have the books, so I would know. Number 8, the one with Sid and Nygus on the cover, pages 117 to 120. Patty and Kid come up to Liz and they do a little explanatory thing about the train, then they head off. Whew, backstorying Queenie and DK is hard! But hey, they weren't just born with those two shouting in their heads! There is a point to it! (For instance, has anyone noticed that nobody's explained the **__exact__** circumstances of Kage and Akuma's banishment? That's intentional.) I shall be explaining everything and slowing down a little bit later, like sometime after the battle with Brew. Sorry about my short leave of absence, won't happen again! (Hopefully) You really should read me and my sister's oneshot; I've been told it's very funny. I'm thinking that after I do this, maybe I should do one of those things where you can ask me to write in your OCs. What do you think? Review, Request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien!**_


	20. Awkward---in Africa?

_**So…what's new? I went to see an Alice in Wonderland play last night. It was okay, funny in some spots, not to badly done. Now, you know the Vocaloid Alice Human Sacrifice thing? Red Alice, of Spades, Blue Alice, of Diamonds, Green Alice, of Clubs, and the two Yellow Alices of Hearts? The one in Japanese? Anyway, my sister saw that as well, and so when Alice first comes out on the stage she whispered to me "Is that the second Alice? They got it wrong; it's supposed to be a boy." I facepalmed, then said to her "That's not- the song isn't- just shut up and watch." Afterwards I explained to her that Alice Human Sacrifice has nothing to do (kinda) with the actual story of Alice and Wonderland, and that Alice is normally depicted with a blue dress. That led to a discussion about what happed to the Alices, if the First Alice killed both Heart Alices, or if the Queen killed the second Heart Alice, the girl, or if they were just wandering around and the boy Heart Alice killed his sister. Yeah…long story. YouTube Alice Human sacrifice if you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about. I forgot to say this last chapter; it was Based off a Black cats of the Eve AMV. That may not be a Soul Eater one, but it worked so well for that theme. (Based off a Unstable AMV)**_

_Kage's POV:_

"Hot…" Patty moaned, dragging her feet. Akuma and I ignored her, keeping our eyes ahead. "What are we doing in this wasteland, it's hot and sandy and horrible." Liz whined, and we rolled our eyes. "So hot…" Patty whimpered. "Quit complaining. You know why we're here." Kid said. "HOT." Patty said. "We get that Patty." Akuma said, appearing on his swords. "So…HOT! It's so freaking hot out here!" Patty screamed, and Liz grabbed her head, squeezing it, making steam pour out her ears. We started walking up a huge sand dune. "Hot…" Patty whined, and DK sighed. _Back to square one._ "Kid, I thought that as a Grim Reaper you're immune to sunburn. What's the point of wearing that silly outfit in this heat?" Liz asked, and he shrugged. "It sets the mood." He said, and we came to the top.

"Besides," he added as an afterthought. "It keeps the lines in my hair partially hidden. No matter how many times I dye it those damn lines keep coming back. Quite annoying." Liz snickered. "Here we are." He said, and we looked down to see- "A station in the middle of the desert?" Liz asked. "Let's get going. The train will arrive any minute now." Kid said, hoping down and starting to slide to the bottom. I jumped after him, "surfing" on the hot desert sand. "You sound pretty excited by that." Liz said "How come?" Patty added. "That train has been operating on schedule for the last hundred years, never a second late or a second early, how can I not be excited about seeing such a perfectly executed mode of transportation?" he asked, and Liz sighed. "Right, how silly of me." She said, dragging Patty down with her.

I blinked. "Someone's already there. It looks like a child." Kid said, coming to a halt at the bottom of the dune. I almost ran into him, but managed not to. "Well, the train _is_ famous I guess." He said, walking forward. I followed him, trying desperately not to draw Akuma. _What's __**she**__ doing here?_ DK asked, and I shrugged. "Hello there. Sure is hot today, isn't it?" Kid said as we walked up the steps. "Hello." Liz said, and Patty managed a " 'llo…" The figure didn't answer. "HEY MIDGET WHERE ARE YOUR MANNERS, AREN'T YOU GONNA ANSWER US!? WHEN SOMEONE SAYS HELLO YOU ANSWER OOKKKAAAYYY!?" Patty roared, and Kid pushed her back. "Calm down." He said, and the person clicked their tongue. "HEY! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, CLICKING YOUR TONGUE AT US LIKE THAT HUH!? THAT'S IT I'M GONNA KILL YA-"

Liz yanked her down to the desert floor. "Oh wow, look at all this sand Patty! Why don't we sit here and play for a while?" She said excitedly, and Patty squealed. "Yeah! I'm gonna build a sand castle" She said, throwing up her hands. Kid and I sighed and shook our heads. "So…" Kid said, looking at me sideways. "Yeah…so…" I said, rubbing the back of my head. "_Awkward_…" Akuma muttered from his swords, coughing. There was a pregnant pause. "About the party-" We said at the same time, turning to each other. I flushed and Kid coughed. I indicated he should go first. "Listen; don't take this the wrong way, but…" He said embarrassedly, blushing. "Never happened?" I asked, crossing my fingers for luck. He nodded. "Yeah." Akuma flashed into view, looking worried. "Wait, what happened? What are you two talking about?" He said in alarm, and I cleared my throat as Kid turned pink. "Nothing." I said, repeating the poker face mantra in my head.

DK snickered. _Is it anything a concerned parental figure like myself should be worried about? _ He asked, slinging an arm over my shoulder. I death-glared him. "DK…" I said, and he grinned. _Yes?_ I growled. "Shut it." He pouted, removing his arm and drifting away. "Something's been bugging me." Kid said suddenly, and I jumped. "What?" I said nervously, and he frowned. "If DK is in your brother's head, how can he communicate with you?" He asked, and I sighed in relief. "Well, he and Queenie are twins, so their minds are connected. We're twins too, so the connection is magnified or something." I said, twirling a lock of my still short hair around my finger. "Twins? Isn't that a bit of an extraordinary coincidence?" He said, looking at me in shock. I blushed. "Um, yeah, actually it is. You've seen how much they look like us?" He rubbed the back of his head. "Kinda. Are you saying those are their real forms?"

I bit my lip, thinking. "Umm, I actually don't know." I admitted. "They say it is, but trusting them is like throwing a match in a firework factory, with about the same results. KABOOM." I said, clapping my hands in illustration. He chuckled, and we both relaxed a little. "All done!" Patty said, giggling after she put the nail in her "sand castle". "According to the schedule, the train should be arriving soon." Kid said, pulling out a scrap of paper. "I still don't see anything!" Kid said in alarm, shading his eyes and looking around. He pulled out an orient pocketwatch. "At this rate it'll miss it's scheduled arrival!" He said, looking at it. I eased away from the platform's edge, getting ready to cover my eyes. _Ten…nine…eight…seven…six…five…four…three…two…ONE._ I glanced up, seeing the telltale drift of smoke. "So it's perfect punctuality was nothing more than a rumor. How disappointing." Kid said, drooping. I smirked. _Actually, it isn't just a rumor-_

The train exploded through the sand, soaring high into the sky with a bang. "AHHH!" Liz screamed, and Patty jumped up. "AWESOME!" She shouted, and I rolled my eyes. The train crashed back to earth, zooming away at the speed only it was capable of. Suddenly something shot over and attached to the train's handles, and this fat red guy landed on the train. "Hahaha! The Grim Reaper sent his minions I see! Well, you're too late! This big fish is mine for the taking! The magic tool belongs to Arachne! FISHER!" he shouted, holding up this rocket launcher thing. I snarled, chanting my mantra. "Shadow take, shadow steal, shadow make, shadow real, shadow take, shadow steal, shadow make, shadow real." I muttered quickly, sprouting my Shade Wings.

"That's the agent Arachne sent to get the tool." Kid said, and the Mizune behind us released her Soul Protect. "What?" Kid said, turning around as she flew off. "A Witch's soul? So that kid wasn't a tourist after all?" He said, then thought a bit more. "Though I suppose witches can be tourists too. Hmm…" I smiled, glad to see he was taking our side, even though at a very inopportune moment. "Uh…" Liz squeaked, pointing to the tadpole-like thing rolling behind him. _Tadpole bomb? Crap._ I jumped, grabbing him and shielding him with my Shade Wings as it imploded, launching both of us away from the platform. We hit the sand, him landing on top of me and squashing all the breath out of my body. "Kid…you have got to stop doing that…" I croaked, wheezing. He chuckled and helped me up, summoning Beelzebub. I flapped off, zooming after the train with Kid behind me.

I saw him flash under me, aiming for the train, and grinned. _He does move fast on that, doesn't he? _My sharp eyes caught movement on the train, and that one red guy's rod thing poked out a window. I stooped, flashing to Kid's side. "We have company…" I sang, grunting as a missile slammed into my wing. "Do you like my fishing rod? Do you like my missiles? How does that feel?" the man cackled, and I winced as he pounded the wing I was holding up to protect myself. I glanced up, feeling more magic right above me, and shouted "KID! ANOTHER BOMB!" as a Tadpole Bomb dropped from the sky. He dodged, and I flew up as a bomb imploded right beneath me. I looked up to see the Mizune drop yet more Tadpole Bombs on the train. Kid used the smoke, moving in closer to the train, but I didn't try as the train was turning a corner. He was flung away, and I swore. _What can we do to help? Akuma, can I leave this to you?_ I asked, him, and he grinned, appearing on his swords. _Thought you'd never ask._

I somersaulted mid-sky, throwing him up and transferring the Shade Wings to his back. The downside to this was I no longer had any. I plummeted, aiming right for Kid. When I landed, I landed on his shoulders, quickly crouching down and wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. "Now I finally get to drop in on you!" I joked, and he smirked at me before turning his attention to the train. "Can you wield Patty?" He asked, and I nodded. "No resonance though, that might hurt." I said, and he handed her to me. "Shoot this creep." He said, jerking his head at the train, and I smirked. "Gladly." He nodded. "All yours." I aimed carefully, shooting at the flash of red I saw crouching by the windows. "HAHAHAHAHA! Come out come out wherever you are!" Patty shouted, and I rolled my eyes. I stopped firing for a second, waiting for the smoke to clear. "Gotcha! Die Fisher guy!" Patty snarled as I aimed for his form.

Suddenly the world shot downwards as Kid jumped, "360 degree, kickflip!" He said, demonstrating as I clung to him frantically. "Nice one." He said, landing on the ground. "What are you doing Kid? This isn't the time to be showing off your skateboard skills!" Liz yelled from his hand and he crouched, getting ready to do it again. "Don't you know anything? That was an incredible hill we ran over back there! Given the situation, it would've been wrong not to do a trick or two on it!" He said, and Liz yelped "WHAT!?" he blinked. "Look, we've got another one coming up! Kage, no hander!" He said, jumping up. "3600!" He shouted, spinning rapidly. "I'M GETTING DIZZY!" Patty wailed from my hand, and I rolled my eyes.

Just as suddenly, the world was back again as we landed on the solid surface of the train's roof. "Good, now give me Patty back." he said, holding out a hand, and I complied. We crouched on the train's roof, and then there was a whooshing sound behind us. We both turned to see the Mizune shoot past us, with Akuma in hot pursuit. I looked down. _Great, more Tadpole bombs?_ I thought, before Kid slammed me down and the world exploded in heat and light.

I hesitantly opened an eye, my ears ringing. Kid was still crouched over me, eyes squeezed shut. I reached up to tap his shoulder, and his eyes shot open. "We're still alive." I said reasonably, sitting up. He looked around. "And your cape's on fire." I said nonchalantly, and he cursed and tugged it off. "It's not a cape, it's a…whatever." He said, swinging down into the train's interior. I followed, smirking. "There's no sign of the guy. He must have gone up to the front." He said, and I nodded, stretching. We started running, and Kid slammed open the door to see the Fisher guy messing around with the train's coupling. "Alright, we'd the guy run off to?" He said, and I pointed. "Got him." He muttered, bringing up Liz and Patty. "You move fast skateboard kids! But that won't keep you from falling out along with this half of the train!" Kid and I darted towards him. "Damnit! He's going to uncouple the cars!" Kid shouted, and I swore.

Akuma and the Mizune suddenly streaked by him, and he jumped, landing back on our side of the train. "That was close! I almost forgot I had to watch for attacks from the air too! But no one catches the Fisher King!" he shouted, and I sighed. He twitched, glancing at us. "AW! Avoiding that attack landed me on the wrong side of the train!" He shouted, flailing wildly. "FISHER!" Kid snorted. "This guy's a special kind of stupid." He said, and Patty giggled. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" she laughed, and Liz sighed. "Seriously." I shook my head sadly. "Damn." The Fisher King said. "-and fisher!" He shouted, launching a rope at the other side of the train. He waved at us. "Well, see you around." He said, before being yanked away. "Liz, Patty!" Kid shouted, throwing them after him. "Connect!" Patty shouted, grabbing onto the Fisher King's ankles. "Connect!" Liz shouted, grabbing Patty's ankles. "Same here!" I yelped, grabbing her ankles and feeling Kid do the same to me.  
I looked down in surprise, seeing us hovering over the desert. "We're flying!" Liz chirped. "How cool!" Patty squealed. "I knew I should have changed into pants…" I said, glaring at my skirt and leggings. "Hmm…" Kid said, and I glanced down to see him looking away, blushing. "Damnit!" the Fisher King said from ahead of us. We all crashed into the train, with nobody landing on top of me for a change. I staggered upright, seeing the Fisher King bouncing up to the train entrance. "Where's he going?" Liz said, and Kid muttered weakly "Liz, Patty." They transformed, and he whirled, getting ready to fire at this weirdo. He stopped bouncing, shouting "Fishing Rod launcher!" and aiming it at us. Kid gasped and before I knew it I was down on the ground again, with him on top of me as the first missile detonated over our heads.

I glared at him. "Seriously Kid, this is getting weird. One day of association without you landing on me, that's all I ask." I said, smirking at him to let him know I was joking. "DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!" the Fisher King shouted, and we both rolled our eyes. "Jeez, this guy is stupid, ugly, and a bad shooter." Kid said in annoyance as bits of rubble showered us from the Fisher King's misses. I grabbed his chin. "Wait a minute…" I said, inspecting him as he swallowed nervously. "What…" he said sheepishly, and I looked at him sarcastically. "Why is your nose bleeding?" He blinked, then blushed slightly, wiping a hand across it quickly. "Uh, no reason." He said, blushing pink and avoiding my glare. "I knew I should have changed into pants." I groaned, slamming my head into the floor.

He blinked, looking alarmed. "No! You looked very cute! Uh, not that I mean anything by it, I mean, you do look nice, but not in a bad way, I mean, in a good way, like-" I cut him off by putting a hand over his mouth. "If you put your foot any more in your mouth we'll have to amputate it." I said, smirking at him. He shrugged sheepishly, and we heard a slicing sound, then the Fisher King's "DIE"s stopped. "Hey…" we both looked up to see him holding a severed stump of his rod. A nod of agreement was all it took. Kid streaked towards him slamming Patty into his face and knocking him back into the door. I jumped, spinning to get more force and then slamming my foot into his face, knocking him and the door into the engine room. He landed with a wobble, like a bowl of jelly. "Damn…" he muttered, shaking his head.

He stood up, staring at the key that slowly turned in the train's engine. "I've got it! You're too late!" He shouted, turning back to face us. Kid slammed into him, and he choked. "You can't have it…it belongs to the witch Arachne…" he ignored him, and fired Liz and Patty. The Fisher King flew up, before landing on the ground with another jiggle. Kid straightened, spinning Liz and Patty in a complicated flourish. I called for Akuma, and a few minutes later all five of us were gathered in front of the engine box. "This is what we came here for. After it's gone the Runaway express will sleep" Kid said, staring at it. He gently pulled it out, and I saw the last few puffs of smoke escape the train's stack, before it ground to a halt. "This is an evil tool." Kid said, staring at it in disgust. "Just holding it disgusts me." The Fisher King started laughing, weakly and waveringly. "I see you're a typical ignorant student of the DWMA. That tool was created by the great wizard Eibon. It's a work of genius." He said.

Kid turned around. "What? Eibon? If he made this he's an evil piece of trash." He said harshly, and the Fisher King grunted. "Would you say that of Skeleton Jack and Lord Death as well?" Kid grabbed his head and yanked him up. "What does my father have to do with this?" I pulled him away, showing the Fisher King my dagger-like shadows. "What does Jack have to do with Eibon? Is that his purpose for banishing us?" I asked, and he cackled. "Oh, so it's you? And the Grim Reaper's son, how cute. Then let me show you something. Open the box that held the Eternal Spring and look inside." Kid turned. "That box there? What's in it that I need to see?" The Fisher King continued. "Eibon's tool isn't just the Eternal Spring alone, it also includes the box you see there with the keyhole in it. That's where you need to look. Go on, open it! Open it! You know you want to. Read what's written on the plate inside the box."

Kid bent down and ran his fingers around the plate's edge. He found a spot to pull and opened the plate with a metallic creak. "It says…Eibon. And then, below that it says…it says "Death". There's no mistaking it, that's dad's handwriting. Why would his signature be on something evil like this?' he said in horror, and The Fisher King turned to me and Akuma. "You know why you were banished…you threatened your way of life…" he wheezed, and I clenched my hands. "I've been told that before, and the explanation falls short." He laughed. "But you weren't told why, now were you?" We remained stonily silent. "Nobody, not even your little friends explained the reason for your banishment. They were all too afraid." He cackled, and Kid looked up. "Guys…what's he talking about?" he asked, and we looked away. "I wonder…how long does your brother have now that madness is covering the world? Six months? _A_ month? A week?" he cackled, and I growled. "Shut up."

"You have no idea of how you mock your own rules. A half-dead weapon and a witch at DWMA? You're walking blasphemies against the Nightstalker." He said, and I scoffed. "We've heard all this before. Get to the point." Her just cackled, and Kid stood up. "What's going on here!?" He snarled, and the Fisher King stopped. "Eibon…is-" There was a neat swish, and a knife appeared in the center of his forehead. "What was that?" Kid said, glancing towards the door. He gasped. "What's he doing here? It's Sid!" Sid glanced at us. "I'll take care of the others with a collection squad from the African branch." He said, approaching the body. "You guys go get some rest." He pulled Nygus from the Fisher King's corpse. "This soul belongs to you Kid. Go ahead and take it." He said, and we both shook our heads, like awaking from a dream.

_***Time Skip***_

I sat down with a thump, facing Akuma. "How long _do_ you think we have?" I asked him, placing a bag on the table. He let out a long breath. "Before Asura, I thought I had a year at best. Now…now I feel like I'm going to unravel any second." He said wearily, holding his head in his hands. I bit my lip, nodding. "Do you think maybe we could talk to Stein? He might be able to help…" I said hesitantly, and he shook his head. "This is magic, not what he's used to. And this is a special magic only a few witches even know about, let alone practice." He said, slumping back in his chair and running his hands through his hair. "Maybe ask one of them?" I said, and we both smirked slightly. "Nah…" We said, shaking our heads. "They'd want much more than we could give." He said in warning, and I sighed, nodding. "Maybe…maybe if we talk to him, he'll help." I said in a small voice, and he shot upright. "What!? No!" He shouted, and surprisingly, Queenie and DK faded into sight.

_You got lucky once, and he didn't ask for much. I guarantee you he will ask for much more than any witch if you ask him again!_ DK said frantically, slamming his hands down on the tabletop. We gaped at him. "Are you…afraid?" I said hesitantly, and he glared at me. _Of __**him**__? Course I'm bloody afraid. You don't know the power he wields over us._ Queenie elbowed him. _Hush. What they know, he knows._ They both looked at us apprehensively. We gaped at them. Queenie and DK were acting nothing like demons now, nothing like what they had acted like as long as we had known them, and if the book was correct, as long as they had been in service to the Nightstalker. "He knows your true names, doesn't he?" I said softly, and they winced. _Yeah._ DK said, putting his head in his hands. _One wrong move and it's bottom's up and goodbye us._ We looked at each other. "He eats you?" I said in disbelief, and he glared at us.

_That's the nice way to put it. We saw this one guy get it once, I think he was a heretic or something, but anyway, he was standing there one second and the next-_ he shuddered violently. _His body was still there, but his soul had gone straight down __**his**__ mouth. Akuma, you know those zombie things at the first fence?_ I blinked. "You know where he goes every month?" I said, and they both nodded. _I showed him around the first time. He goes straight to our version of Halloween Town, but there's no town, just the woods and a clearing where the town is. In our version it's a giant maze, with two fences caging in these zombie things. They're all the people whose souls you-know-who's eaten. Obviously, Jack will end up there too someday, just like the others. Poor guy._

I frowned. "I thought you didn't like him?" DK shrugged. _I don't, but it's said that those things still think and feel, at an animal level. His mind will still be there, only helpless. That's not something I would wish on anybody, least of all myself and you guys. It's what Akuma would've become if your spell failed, or fails. And he knows just what to expect._ I turned to him, putting an arm over his shoulder. He shuddered, grabbing my other hand. "It's horrible. They stagger and moan, and if they touch you there's such a feeling of despair…" He trailed off, sobbing a little from fear. _Poor kid._ DK said sympathetically. _They're like zombies, but not exactly. They seem to sense living souls, and try to take them so they can live again. Doesn't work, but they still try. Again, he'll become just like them if your spell fails._

_**Dun dun, dadum. *plays organ* That's not good, not good at all. Gasp, what is this? DK and Queenie are being all nice all of a sudden? This is impossible…or is it? Isn't it? Oh, quick puzzle for you that will certainly give you a headache, right here:**_

_**If someone says it's opposite day, then by opposite day law, it isn't opposite day. But what if no one says it's opposite day, then it is opposite day. But opposite day is only one day, when is it!? **_

_**Confusing, yes? I made it up, and so far have absolutely no answer for it. I told it to my grandparents, and they were clueless, as well as my dad and my sister. I have a theory…opposite day is Armageddon! Yeah…so say you've done a lot of bad things and by opposite day rules you'll be fine! Unless I'm wrong…ah heck, who cares! Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien! **_


	21. YOU! Wait, a date? WHAT!

_**Hehe, I kinda forgot he was dead too *looks sheepish* But I fix! Thanks for reading me and my sister's other stories Emma-sempai, wait…did you read my Hellsings! I hope you liked those too if you did. Hey, has everyone read Chapter 19? Can I take out the annoying "NOW A CHAPTER" and put in the right thing, you know, "chapter 19" so all the chapters line up nicely? God, I sound like Kid. *sighs* Anyway…just listened to Dark Woods circus. I was staring at the screen the whole time, and I felt like curling up into a little Kid-symmetry-fit ball. It was equally the cutest and the most depressing thing I've ever seen. I feel like sharing it! Okay, got this explanation off of a deviant art account, but it is correct. **__**Len and Rin, sewed together, lures young Meiko into their tent. Rin's eyes glow red, as if saying that she's hypnotizing Meiko.  
She follows the duo into a tent in the deep, deep forest.  
The giant Neru and Haku stand guard, as if to catch anyone who escapes. It could be that they're seen to be giants because Meiko is a child or that they too, are victims of the biological surgery.  
Meiko looks in the little hole to see what's inside the tent.  
She sees two-head, one-body Len and Rin. Len has no expression while Rin is smiling. They're holding what seems to be Kaito's food (human arms).  
She sees Kaito, whose brain is switched with that of a dog. He only eats cold things. Human corpse gets colder as time passes. He's tied up to prevent him from being wild.  
'I couldn't have been born with this body' - the lyrics talk about the poor children who was turned into a biological experiment, having their body parts switched and cut-off.  
Len comforts Miku by kissing her hair.  
People are staring at them. They wonder why people are staring at their mutilated bodies.  
The flowers on Akaito's face represents acid. Acid was sometimes thrown on the faces of bad children to discipline them.  
Len and Miku have acid marks on their face (with Miku having more wounds). It seems that they were bad, but Rin is fine because she was a good child.  
Meiko sees all this through the hole.  
Though the children are in pain, the circus continues.  
The children must continue to smile and entertain the people.  
The PV shows young Miku, Rin, Len, etc. watching the show (this is before they were mutilated).  
Someone throws acid on her face and her eyes melt.  
Akaito couldn't handle the pain of the acid and committed suicide.  
Miku wants to die, having lost her virginity, sight, and legs.  
Rin and Len cry, wanting death.  
The children suffering so much, they're crying out for death.  
Miku wants to be let out of her jail, but the giant Haku and Neru stand guard.  
Someone who looks like an adult Meiko (Meiko acts as two different people) seems to be the owner/leader of the circus.  
Little Meiko was secretly watching the circus and she gets found out.  
'I stretched my crumpled body' - is she talking about herself being part of the mutilation?  
Young Haku and Neru are going back home after the show.  
They now only have each other for support.  
Young Kaito is going back home after the show, only to be stopped by adult Meiko.  
'This child is sitting alone' - maybe it's talking about the bitterness about being mutilated in an isolated place.  
Kaito with his dog brain, smiles, still tied up in a dark room.  
'There was a big shadow' - maybe Haku and Neru?  
Then adult Meiko also lures young Miku.  
Then young Miku waves at young Rin and Len.  
Rin and Len now share one body.  
Now the scene goes back to the crowd, where young Meiko was first seen.  
Then her eyes glow red and you can see the acid wounds. It turns out Meiko was captured and mutilated as well.  
'I enjoy it' - she's faking happiness while hiding her pain.**_

_**Depressing, ya? But, (and I swear I'm not making this up) The tempo and song are so upbeat, and the pictures show these things **__much__** less graphically than they're described. I'm a strange person, aren't I? Yeah…sorry about making Excalibur show up again, but, and don't hate on me for this Hiro fangirls, I think Hiro needs to be taught a lesson. And here we have two Demonmeisters with time to kill…*evil grin* (Based off a Haunted Town AMV)**_

_Kage's POV:_

After our lovely little conversation that night, we walked to the DWMA in more cheerful spirits than we had in…hours. Yeah, life had hit an all time low when we were in a good mood about Akuma's impending demise. I sighed, shaking my head, but stopped when I saw a clump of bodies scattered over the DWMA entrance yard. I looked around, noticing Blackstar and Tsubaki still climbing up the stairs behind us, and scratched my head. _I thought he was the only one who fought so early in the…m-morning…_ DK yawned, stretching and rubbing his eyes. Our resident demon was apparently not a morning person. Blackstar and Tsubaki finally reached our level, and I held up my hands when they looked at me. "Not us." I said, waving them back and forth. "Isn't it early for fighting?' Tsubaki said, and we shrugged. We heard a laugh and turned to see that one kid everyone made run errands, although his name escaped me for the moment.

"Please, what a pitiful bunch you are. I have been reborn as a true hero; ordinary people like you don't stand a chance against me." He said, posing. "You mean that Hiro kid did this?' Blackstar said, stunned. "This academy is nothing special." A voice said, and me, Akuma, and DK all winced. We turned to see a very familiar figure in a top hat. "Uh, him again?" Blackstar said, making a face. "My legend is far more impressive than anything that happened at this school." Excalibur said, stabbing his cane into the ground. "All students and meisters must hear it." He abruptly turned and began walking away. _C'mon, his back is turned, kill him NOW. _DK said, rubbing his hands, and we both sighed. He suddenly turned again and walked back towards us. "My legend dates back to the twelfth century you see." He said, swatting one of the unconscious meisters away from him. "It began on a midsummer day with the sun blazing overhead…"

We gritted our teeth as he droned on and on and on, blathering about nonsense and swinging his cane._ Please…please can we kill him!?_ DK wailed, yanking on our pants legs. "Hold on you freak!" Blackstar shouted, and he turned. "Hmm? What do you want? The stated five minute break hasn't passed yet. Say, don't I know you?" He said. "Yeah, it was a really memorable-" Blackstar started, but he was cut off. "You can't wait five minutes? Fool." He said, jabbing his cane in Blackstar's face. He knocked it away. "Watch the stick dude." Hiro laughed. "Did you see before Blackstar? My incredible strength? I am no longer the miserable loser I was. The Holy Sword has changed all that." He said, as Excalibur poked his cane under his nose, swinging back and forth. "I have been transformed into a powerful hero." Blackstar shrugged. "Getting your hands on a particular weapon doesn't necessarily change _you_ at all." He said, luckily closing his eyes before Excalibur did the cane waving thing again.

Hiro blinked. "Besides, what could possibly be worth having to put up with this cane-waving freak?" Blackstar said, opening his eyes and gritting his teeth. "Oh please, the one thousand provisions I must observe to be Excalibur's meister are so easy to handle, I could do it in my sleep." Hiro said, as Excalibur switched off to him. "It seems to me the real question is: how come you weren't able to handle the Holy Sword?" he said smugly, and Blackstar blinked. "You're a real idiot, damn. Have you even gotten to the part about the five-hour story telling parties yet?" Blackstar asked as Excalibur waved his cane under his nose. "Now that you mention it, my legend began on the same day…" Excalibur spoke up, and I ignored him out of habit. "Okay, fine DK." I growled, shaking my head. "We'll kill him." DK beamed up at us and fist pumping. _YES! Did I ever mention how awesome you two are?_

We both rolled our eyes just as Blackstar lost it. "AHHHHHHH! SHUT UP OR I'LL KILL YOU! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! AHHHHHHH!" he roared, and Excalibur turned. "We fight?" He said eagerly, and Kilik stepped up. "A fight huh? I'd like a piece of that action." He said, and Blackstar blinked as Excalibur danced, singing. "I'd like to check out what this legendary sword can do." He said, and Kid added "Same here. With that guy around it's impossible to maintain one's sanity." Patty giggled and pointed at him. "LOOK AT THE STUPID ALIEN!" she shouted, and he blinked. "Wanna fight?" We stepped forward. "Well, we might as well join in too." I said, and they all glanced at us. "We're kinda annoyed by this freak too." Everyone gasped and muttered as we faced off.

"Kilik Rung. Blackstar. Death the Kid. Kage. A battle between the four best meisters in the academy, and Excalibur. A worthy matchup." Hiro said condescendingly, and Akuma snarled silently. "I'll be joining the fight as well, so you can see my new abilities up close and personal." He said casually, and I gritted my teeth. He held out his hand, saying "Excalibur!" dramatically as the freakish sword transformed. Everyone watching oohed and ahhed over the bright yellow glow. "Victory and glory." Hiro said, striking a pose. "Are mine now." The others looked at him, stunned. "He is somewhat intimidating." Kid said neutrally. "When all is said and done the four of you will be nothing more than a footnote in the legend of the Holy Sword Excalibur." Hiro said smugly, smirking at us. "SHUT UP!" Blackstar roared, charging at him.

"DON'T YOU REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE!? HIRO WOULDN'T DARE TALK LIKE THAT!" He screamed, activating Tsubaki's Enchanted Sword mode. "My new name is Hiro the brave. I am, HIRO THE BRAVE!" He shouted, swinging Excalibur so Blackstar had to jump up or be run over by the blast of power. "OH YEAH! Well take this!" Blackstar shouted. "Heaven Strike!" he shouted, but Hiro flapped his light wings and it missed. "If you do not follow the light, no blow you strike will ever touch Hiro the Brave." Hiro said smugly, crossing his arms. Blackstar grinned, and Hiro turned to see Kilik about to slam him. "Now I'm getting fired up!" he shouted as Pot of Fire began to glow. "Pot of Fire Triple F!" he shouted, aiming for Hiro's face. "Liz, Patty, fire stick shots!" Kid shouted, firing a few rounds at him. Hiro vanished, and the shots and Kilik went right through empty air. "Where is he?" Kid muttered, blinking. "With this, you will be defeated." Hiro said dramatically, glowing.

"Last move, Hiro the Atomic." He said, closing his eyes as there was a bright burst of light. Kid, Kilik, and Blackstar all flew up in the air, smoking and charred. Hiro smirked, already basking in his victory, but I slammed into his back, making him stumble and then fly across the courtyard as I hit him with a Soul Force. "H-how are you…" He coughed, sitting up and wiping a trickle of blood from his mouth. I grinned, tossing and catching Akuma casually. "You spend too much time showing off, that's how." I said teasingly, silently thanking DK for bearing the brunt of his attack. _Yeah…don't mention it…_ he coughed, rubbing his head. _I forgot just how much that hurts._ "You are indeed an opponent worthy of Excalibur." Hiro said admiringly, stumbling upright. "You may get a longer footnote than the rest, but nobody can stand up to the Holy Sword!" He shouted, running straight for me.

"Wanna bet?" I asked, jumping up and landing on his shoulders, flipping over him and kicking him in the small of his back, sending him flying into the wall of the school. He hit it with a crunch, then staggered away, blood trickling from his mouth again. He spat it out, frowning. "You aren't human, are you?" He asked, leaning on Excalibur's sword form. I grinned, running my tongue along my teeth to feel them much sharper than normal. "_I'm_ human, right now at least." I said cryptically, twirling DK on my finger. "Blessed blade." Hiro growled, pointing Excalibur at me threateningly. "Witch style." I said, catching Akuma/DK and cracking my knuckles. I ran at him, and he stood his ground, smirking recklessly.

He swung at me as soon as I was within range, but we had a little surprise for him. Akuma caught me and DK as we split apart, aiming us for Hiro's head. He, expecting a different opponent, was caught off guard and Akuma managed to hit him with a Soul Force before he vanished again. I transformed, catching Akuma and DK and waiting for Hiro's next attack. He hovered above us, breathing hard. I quickly chanted my mantra under my breath before shouting "Cat o' nines!" and latching the shadows onto his wings and body, not making them sharp yet. He grimaced and struggled, but I had caught him fast. I jumped up, anchoring the strands of shadow to the ground and hovering right in front of his shocked face. "I'll give you a nice little warning." I said conversationally. "DON'T MESS WITH A NIGHTSTALKER!" I shouted, slamming him into the ground with a Soul Force to rival one of Jack's.

I landed, hands in my pockets, next to his steaming and twitching body. "Just a FYI." I said, waving a hand and walking inside with Akuma. After a moment's pause, DK appeared, being dragged behind us by and invisible rope with his eyes closed and body charred. "What happened to you?" Akuma said, stopping, and he twitched. _Excalibur. Happened._ He moaned sarcastically, rubbing his head. _You do remember I took all of his attacks for you?_ "Yeah…good job." I said, turning around and beginning walking again. _GOOD JOB!?_ He spun me around, glaring. _Look at this burn! _He gestured to his body,wincing. _Look at this slash!_ He yanked his collar to one side, showing a long cut. _ Look at my soul! _ He pointed to his semi-transparent chest, where I saw his light grey soul was floating sadly. _I've been creamed! And you say "good job"!? _I shrugged, turning back around. "It was a good job. Now shut it."

_***Time Skip***_

I sighed, leaning back into the bench and shaking my head. Kid sat next to me, watching the others try to teach Crona how to play basketball. "I take it you don't like this very much?" he asked, looking at me sideways. I blinked, then shrugged. "Yeah, I mean, its nice helping Crona out and stuff, but I don't like sports. He's doing good though, I can't smell as much fear on him and neither can Queenie." I said, watching him try to take the ball from Blackstar. "Things do seem to be looking up for him." Kid said, and we watched in silence for a moment. "So Kage, how have you been doing?" He asked, looking at me. I raised an eyebrow, fighting the urge to blush. "Uh, fine. Why the sudden worry?" I said nervously, and he shrugged. "We've been allied with your family for a while now, seeing them every day must be hard for you." He said sympathetically, resting a hand on my shoulder. I blinked. _Umm…_

"Nah, its fine." I said quickly, trying to smile. "We try to avoid each other, except for Lock and her brothers." I admitted, truthfully, I might add. I felt a current of air move and caught the ball inches from my face. "C'mon guys, let's get a game started." Blackstar said impatiently, and I shrugged, chucking the ball back at him. Kid joined in as well. "Alright, so I'll be the captain of this team today!" Blackstar said, jabbing a thumb at Soul, Tsubaki, Akuma, and Patty. "Kid'll be captain of this team." He said, flicking a finger at me, Kid, Crona, Liz, and Maka. "PUNSIHMENT!" Blackstar, Patty, Soul and Akuma chanted, and I raised an eyebrow. _What have I gotten myself into…_

"Alright then, as captain my punishment will be-" I cut Blackstar off. "I have a punishment worse than anything you can come up with." I said calmly, putting my hair up. "Oh yeah? What?" He growled, and I smirked. "Since you have such a strained relationship, you can be locked in with Excalibur and Hiro, for say…an hour? Without trying to escape?" I asked, and he whitened. "Uh…yeah, I can do that!" he said brightly, and I smirked. He had been avoiding them like the plague all the time Hiro had been waltzing around with the stupid sword, and he hadn't left yet. "So what's Kid's punishment?" Maka asked, yanking her cap down tighter on her head. Patty giggled. "HE SHOULD ASK YOU OUT KAGE!" She squealed, and we both gaped at her in horror. "NO!" Kid yelped, and I nodded frantically.

Blackstar, apparently still smarting over my idea, nodded. "Alright, who votes if Kid loses he and Kage go out on a date?" He asked, and Patty, Soul, Maka, Liz, Tsubaki, Crona, raised a hand at the same time he did. "Who votes he shouldn't?" He asked, and snorted as me and Kid both stretched our hands above our heads frantically, along with Akuma. DK was running around the edges of the court, waving both hands above his head. _Look, you're outvoted!_ He challenged Blackstar, making shadowy hands sprout from the ground. I rolled my eyes. _DK, it has to be a live person's hand._ He scowled, sitting down on the bench we had just vacated. _That's no fair._ He whined, and I sighed, shaking my head.

The game started, and despite my somewhat less than legal methods of subtly tripping the other team up, and Akuma's obvious efforts to lose, the game immediately started ruling in Blackstar's team's favor. It ended, and he, Patty, and Soul jumped up and down, chanting punishment. I gulped as Kid edged closer to me, and the others watched avidly as he whispered. "Will you go on a date with me?" blushing much brighter than ever before. I swallowed, then croaked. "Yeah." As the others cheered and snickered. Akuma and DK started banging their heads against the ground.

_***Time Skip, again***_

"Readying ammunition." Akuma said, clicking the shells into a shotgun._ Missiles are locked and loaded._ DK said, crouching by the door with a semi-transparent bazooka. "Preparing to blow Reaper to kingdom come." Akuma said into his walkie-talkie, straightening his army helmet. I rolled my eyes, putting some nice crystal dangly earrings in. "Guys, seriously, I get being overprotective, heck, even the shotgun, but DK, a bazooka is a bit much. Akuma, same for the helmet and walkie-talkie. Chill out." I said, leaning over the couch and glaring at them both. _Panzerfaust? _He said meekly, shifting to a slightly smaller grenade launcher. "No." I growled, tying my boot strings. _Flamethrower?_ He said, shifting it again and looking hopeful. "No." I said again, looking for a nice necklace or something. _I might be able to go all the way down to machine gun, but that's my final offer._ He said, brandishing his new machine gun. "No. I'm not letting you handle any heavy artillery, and I'm still iffy about letting you have a shotgun at all." I said, peeking at my reflection in the mirror.

He growled, putting his gun down. _It's no fun shooting him if he doesn't explode on impact._ He pouted, folding his arms. "There are many sacrifices in war." Akuma said doggedly, cocking his shotgun. DK nodded. _True…_ The doorbell rang, and they both rolled under a furniture item, crawling towards the door stealthily. _Getting in position…_DK whispered, aiming a hunting rifle at the door. I quickly stepped in front of their firing line, opening the door. "Hey Kid." I said, seeing him standing there looking shocked. "You look nice…" he finally managed to say, and I glanced down at my shiny shirt and black jeans, along with my favorite pair of knee high boots. I was wearing a simple crystal pendant on a leather thong, and matching tiny crystal earrings. "Yeah, I hope I didn't overdress or anything…" I said, looking back up at him. "No, no, you look fine." He said cheerfully, smiling encouragingly at me.

"I would invite you in, but DK and Akuma are aiming a shotgun and-" I looked over my shoulder. "-a grenade launcher at you. DK, I said it before, no heavy artillery. Shotgun or nothing." I said firmly, and he scowled and shifted it to a very large elephant gun. _Spoilsport._ Kid chuckled, and I stepped out, closing the door firmly behind me. "So where are we going?" I asked him, as we walked out the apartment building doors and out onto the darkened street. He shrugged, blushing. "I hadn't thought that out yet." He said sheepishly, and I grinned. "I suppose they did spring this on us rather suddenly." I said, linking my arm through his. "Let's just wander around until we find something."

_DK's POV:_

"No…" I moaned, cradling my fallen comrade in my arms. My beloved grenade launcher was no more, turned into a baby, wimpy, ridiculous elephant gun. Akuma laid a hand on my shoulder. "It died bravely. May you shoot many of my sister's boyfriends with its shrunken form." I moaned, rocking. "That's if she has many boyfriends. Somehow I doubt we'll let them get that far." I said, grinning and stopping my rocking motion for a moment. He nodded, smirking. "So wanna play?" he asked, pointing to the game system I had…liberated…from a store in a different city. I shrugged. "Heck, if we can't shoot the Reaper than we need to shoot something else." I said, putting my headset in and picking up a consol.

_**Sorry about switching things up and using such a cliché theme to get them on a date. DK with heavy artillery, you know that's a bad idea. *shudders* if anybody's wondering, he can conjure up stuff out of shadows and use those to influence the real world, so his shotgun, or flamethrower, or panzerfaust, or bazooka, or machine gun would actually go bang and hurt someone. He's just messing around with Kage though…maybe…with him, it's kinda hard to tell. Funny how overprotective they are, isn't it? I really like how Kage's all "I draw the line at a shotgun", not immediately demanding they put down their firearms. She's just so used to violence! If anyone's wondering, DK does show up more than his sister, because she sort of plots and plans, and mostly stays in Kage's mind because she feels reality and other people are stupid. DK just wants to mess with everyone around him, so he comes out more. Okay then…I also have no idea what to make them do on their date. Ideas, oh nice people. I need some. Review, Request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien!**__  
_


	22. Sadness and Sorrow

_**! So…I want to get to a certain point, so you guys get a carrot! Two chapters in one day! Yeah, DK is kinda cool. I like him too! Oh, Emma-sempai, thanks for checking out my Hellsings! Who's your favorite character? (OC or otherwise) Well, in the anime, everyone else did get creamed when he did his "Hiro the Atomic" move. (Which sucked, he's just such a snooty brat after he gets Excalibur!) Kage's got a meat shield by the name of DK, so she's fine, not even a little singed. Hehe, DK's got to be the character I enjoy writing the most! He's so funny! (Based off a Because of You AMV, and no, that's not a prediction for their date)**_

_Kage's POV:_

Eventually we just sort of shrugged and went to DeathBucks. Kid got our orders as I watched the people walking along the street with narrowed eyes. "Are you never _off _guard?" he asked, setting the tray down and sitting across from me. I nibbled on a scone, blushing slightly. "Sorry. It's just, I've had to watch my back most of my life." I said, sipping at my cup as he frowned. "Most of your life?" I traced smile circles on the tabletop. "We had a nice, cutesy little life with our mom and dad, until the very day of our sixth birthday…"

_***Flashback***_

_ "Hey look, a tunnel!" I shouted, bending down and looking at the dark hole leading into the mound. "Kage, what are you doing now?" Akuma asked, running up to me and panting hard from exhaustion. "Look, it goes really far back!" I said, crawling inside. "Kage! Get out of there! It might collapse!" Akuma said nervously, yanking on one of my ankles. I quickly popped back out. "Nope, it's made out of rock!" I said cheerfully, tapping one of the walls."That's even worse." He said, folding his arms. I sighed. "C'mon Akuma, you never let me have any fun. Just this once, on my birthday, please come with me?" I asked, making my eyes go big and pleading. He snorted. "It's my birthday too genius. But I guess someone has to look after you." I beamed at him and promptly wiggled back into the tunnel, crawling forward on my hands and knees._

_ He followed, and I swallowed my fear as I saw the light behind me suddenly vanish, cut off by our combined bodies. Eventually, my hands hit something hard and dry, and I looked up, squinting in the darkness to see a stone door. "This is so cool!" I whispered, setting my shoulder against it and pushing hard, causing it to fall down with a crash. We both coughed as I crawled forward again, coming out into a chamber with much higher walls, so we could stand up again. "Wow…" I whispered softly, looking around and seeing the detailed carvings depicting Pumpkin King and… "Hey, look at this!" I chirped, bending forward and seeing the figures bowing down to him. "They look just like us!" Akuma edged nearer to me, grabbing my hand. "Kage, I don't like this…" he whimpered, yanking on it, trying to pull me back towards the entrance. "Let's leave, something's not right." He pleaded, looking around nervously._

_ I looked around as well, and the hairs rose on the back of my neck. Now that he said something, there _was _something wrong with the air of the chamber. It was like the air was the lungs of some giant slumbering beast, throbbing with latent power, making the air around us hum. "It's nothing." I said firmly, seeing two coffins with rotten wood lids in the very center. "Who are those?" I asked, yanking my hand back and walking towards them, Akuma close behind me. The sides were stone, and I peered at them, seeing more carvings. A girl was on the one closet to me, and she was sitting on a coffin, in a graveyard full of strange, twisted trees with a full moon hovering above her. I looked at the other four sides, and saw each one was different, with a pair of slitted eyes and smirking, sharky mouth on the first short side, another mural of a girl, but this time with multiple shadows curling around her and the edges of the coffin as she hovered over a sleeping child's bed, and a pumpkin head on the last short side, the one at her feet._

_ The girl also looked just like me, but she was different. The carvings seemed to warn of something, someone, who was best left sleeping, best left slumbering in her moldy bones, someone who shouldn't be let free. I gulped and looked at the other one, but it wasn't much better. A boy who looked just like Akuma was grinning on a throne, a scepter with a skull for its knob and a femur for its handle dangling carelessly from his hand, looking bored as he beckoned forward a man in chains. The man looked angry, striding towards the boy defiantly, but there was a pile of shackles lying on the floor to the right of the boy, and there was something that looked disturbingly like blood trickling from the boy's mouth. The other three sides showed the same pair of eyes and mouth, and the same pumpkin symbol at the bottom, but the one opposite the throne scene showed the same boy cutting recklessly through a line of people, all of them screaming at him, but in fear, anger, of desperation, they didn't showing._

_ "Kage…we need to go NOW." Akuma said, grabbing my arm and yanking. I yanked back, growling at him. "It's just a pair of coffins! Stop worrying! Anyway, you're not the boss of me!" I shouted at him, and he snarled, pulling me harder. "Stop it!" I shouted, managing to yank away from him, but didn't judge distance correctly and fell onto the girl's coffin lid. Rotten wood shattered under me, and I fell down, down, down, far past where a normal coffin would end. I hit something hard, yet soft, and blanked out._

_ I blinked my eyes open, seeing a full moon shining down on me. "So you're awake then." A voice said carelessly, and I sat up, seeing the same girl from the carvings sitting on a stone platform, in the same graveyard that was carved on her coffin. "You're brother's still out like a light. You __**are**__ siblings, aren't you?" She said doubtfully, looking at me. I quickly staggered to my feet. "What have you done with my brother!?" I shouted at her, balling my fists. She smirked. "__**I **__haven't done anything with him. Talk to my brother." She said, flicking a finger at me and laying back on her stone altar, gazing up at the cloudy night sky meditatively. "Who are you?" I asked, edging away from her nervously. She snorted, glancing at me from the corner of her eye. "__**You're **__the one who fell on __**my**__ bones. Tell me who you are, and I might be persuaded to do the same." She said harshly, and I bit my lip._

_ "I'm Kage. I'm a Nightstalker, not a meister, and I'm going to be the next Jack!" I said proudly, puffing out my chest. She snorted again, shaking her head. "Next Jack? Children's dreams. Listen to me, Kage-who-is-not-a-meister; I'd advise you to stay away from __**that**__ path. There are other demons in hell, ones that won't take a host's life. Me, for one." I quickly backed away from her even more. "You're a demon?" I squeaked, frantically wishing Akuma was here. She laughed this time, long and loud. "What a naïve little girl! What do you think I am?" she said mockingly, closing her eyes and chuckling to herself still. "Let me go." I said, stepping forward and balling my fists again. She stopped chuckling, and sighed. "Little girl, what makes you think you can force me to? I deserve some compensation for you falling on my poor old bones. My body's long dust, but the bones are left, my dusty old bones still hold my soul snug inside my chest, all nice and wrapped up."_

_ I gulped. "Doesn't that hurt?" She laughed again. "Not really, I'm dead after all. Nothing much hurts the dead, they can't feel much anyway. I'll make you a deal though. Set me free, and I'll let you go." I gulped. "How do I let you free if I'm stuck here?" She grinned at me, getting up and walking over. She bent down, and I stifled a cough as her reek of dust and damp invaded my delicate nose. "We'll make a bargain." She said, a desperate light flaring in her eyes. "A contract. All it takes is a shake of my hand, and we're both free." She said, shoving it at me. I gulped. "Well, I can't stay here forever." I said, grabbing her hand and shaking it once, trying to hide my fear. She smirked, suddenly squeezing it hard. I yelped, trying to yank it away, but her grip was like a vise. "A deal is made!" She cried, and a burning pain shot into my hand. I wailed and tried to pull away, but she still held on. "A bargain has been struck!" She croaked, her eyes burning with a fiendish fire that mimicked the one traveling slowly up my arm._

_ The fire reached my chest, and I gasped and hung limp from her grasp as it seared my entire body. "A contract…has been forged…" she whispered, letting go. I fell to the ground, the graveyard and the moon spinning around me as I blacked out again. I woke up with a start on the floor of the crypt, with Akuma shaking me. "You're okay!" I cried, holding onto him and hugging him. "What happened?" he asked, prying me away. I shuddered. "It was awful…I saw her!" I pointed to the coffin, hairs rising on my neck when I saw the carving with her on the stone bed was gone, without a trace of her reclining figure. He stared at me in horror. "I...saw him…" he whispered, falling on the ground with a thump and looking towards the other coffin. "When you fell, I panicked and everything went dark. I was so scared, I'm not brave like you, and there was this voice, and it asked me…for a deal. All at once I felt this pain, like a fire, and then I woke up to see you fly out that coffin." He pointed back towards the girl's coffin. _

_ "Let's just get out of here." I said, crouching and crawling rapidly away, back to the light. I broke into the bright daylight with a gasp, yanking Akuma out behind me. There was a rumbling sound, and the tunnel collapsed. We sat there in the sunshine, panting. Our heads jerked up, and we saw a distant figure running towards us, calling our names. "Kage! Akuma! Come on, we need to get you inside." Charlotte said, pulling us back toward Halloween. I swayed, feeling dizzy. "Yeah…" I muttered, rubbing my forehead and seeing Akuma doing the same. I stifled a giggle, feeling happier than I had in ages. I looked up to Mrs. Charlotte, frowning. She was…noisy. Akuma glared at her as well, but she chattered on, about how dirty we were, how sad Jack would be if he saw us, how we should try to be the proper example of Nightstalker, and on and on. I shook my head. _Kage, what's wrong with you? She's always been nice, and she must be really nice if Jack's going to marry her.

_ I thought this to myself, repeating it over and over in my head, but the growing urge to do __**something**__ was overwhelming me. "Honestly, I'm just glad you're alright. Your parents would be terrified if something happened to you." She said in relief, lightly smacking the sides of our heads. Black suddenly well up in my vision and I blacked out for the third time that terrible day. Just as suddenly, I awoke, wiping my damp hand across my face. Akuma's swords were in my hand, and I dazedly dropped him, as he transformed. There was something wet and sticky on my fingers, and I looked down, seeing a dark red liquid dripping from my hand. I blinked. _Is that…blood?_ I thought, shaking my head rapidly. I picked a clean patch of my dirty clothes, wiping my face off with it. It came off red; because more spatters of the sticky red stuff was on my face as well. "Charlotte?" I asked in worry, looking around. There was more red stuff trailing off into the brush, and I followed the trail, dragging Akuma's swords after me._

_ "Char-" I started to call, but stop when I saw her. She was draped across a tree root, eyes gazing blankly into space. _Maybe she just fell asleep…_ I thought nervously, edging closer to her. Her face was twisted in a blank mask of terror, and I gently poked her side with Akuma. "Charlotte, wake up." I said, seeing a trickle of red leaking from her mouth. There was a spray of more blood that was streaked across the forest floor in front of her, and I forced myself to apply what we learned from our teachers. _The attacker was small, maybe knee-high, with a long implement. She ran a little way this way, but accidently backed herself against the tree. She seemed to stay there for a moment, perhaps discussing something with her murderer. They then…then hacked her chest open with said implement, causing a spray of blood, probably coating them as well as covering the forest floor…

_ I suddenly looked down at myself. I was knee-high, with a long, sharp implement. It made sense she would attempt to reason with me, as mommy and her were good friends. I was covered in blood. "No…" I whimpered, backing away from her body. "I can't have done this…" a voice inside my head laughed. __**No, this was all me. I was so hungry after my long sleep, I couldn't help myself. But we had to have some fun with it, right? She died in such terror…pity you couldn't hear her screams…**__ I whimpered, shaking my head violently. _No! Get out of my head!_ I shouted mentally, and she laughed. I heard a crackling sound, seeing a boy run back towards the town "WAIT!" I called after him, chasing him. Akuma woke up, shifting back to human form to run more easily. "It wasn't us!" he shouted desperately, breaking out of the tree cover. The boy was older than us, and began to pull away. We still ran, hoping to catch him before he told everyone his version of the story._

_ Five minutes later, we ran in the town square, panting. Jack turned from the boy. "Kage…Akuma…" he said, shaking his head sadly. I gasped and began telling him my story, the truth and nothing but the truth, as people began to gather, with sticks and stones. I eyed them nervously, but continued. When I got to the part about them forcing us to make a deal, Jack held up his hand. "I understand." He said, sympathetically, and I heaved a sigh of relief. "I will let you all punish them, but I need to get something special for these two." He said, turning away from us and walking away. I gaped after him, and the people closed in. "Murderers…" someone muttered. "Punish them…" someone else snarled, and they all started shouting at us. A rock hit my back, and I yelped, jumping away. Akuma pressed up against me, shaking in fear. A long stick slammed across us, and I wailed, as Akuma whimpered._

_ A nightmare of punishing blows rained down on us, sticks and stones, fists and feet. Akuma took most of it, shielding my body with his own. Eventually a saw a stick crack across his skull, and he slumped, as they dragged his body off mine and threw it to one side, I wailed, trying to go to his side and help him. They continued to rain blows on both of us, my whole body fading into one burning haze of agony. I clawed my way to Akuma, and was reaching out for his still body before a felt someone grabbed my waist, lifting me up and away from him. I screamed, somehow understanding that I would not like what the person was taking me to. "MOMMY!" I wailed, knowing she was somewhere here. I caught a glimpse of her and wriggled out of my captor's grasp, running to her as daddy cradled her in his arms. "Mommy!" I cried, holding onto her pant leg. She glanced down at me in surprise, then her expression darkened. "Unclean demon!" she spat, flinging my off and slapping my face. "Mommy?" I sniffled, looking up at her in stunned shock._

_ "I am not your mother! You are not my child! You are a demon!" she screamed, kicking me hard. Daddy pulled her back. "Dear, don't touch it. You'll be unclean." He crooned to her, and I gaped at them, tears filling my eyes and overflowing. "Why…" I whispered, seeing them turn away from me in disgust and hatred. "Why!?" I wailed, struggling as the person came for me again, yanking me up and away. "WHY!?" I screamed, seeing my brothers broken, battered, still body. "This one?" a man asked, turning him over so I could see his bloody face. "Leave the body." The man holding me grunted, and I went limp from grief. My mother and father had abandoned me. My brother…my brother was dead. I wailed, sobbing and hanging in the man's grip as he shoved me in a room nobody but Jack was ever allowed to enter. He yanked the strap of my dress down, baring my left shoulder. Jack himself was standing in the corner, pumping the bellows of some sort of forge. He withdrew a poker, one with an odd end, shaped like our clan mark._

_ "I cast you out. No longer are you one of the sacred clan, but an Outcast, a traitor. No longer are you welcome in Halloween, and you no longer are welcome within our ranks. I EXPELL YOUR POSION!" he roared, smashing the red hot poker into my skin. I screamed, writhing in agony as he and my captor held me down, grunting with the effort. "YOU ARE OUTCAST!" Jack snarled, pressing it deeper into my burned skin. I screamed again and again, feeling the fire burn into my shoulder, marking me for what I was forever. An outcast, a traitor. Branding me as Kage, Demonmeister._

_***Flashback end***_

I sniffed silently, a tear plinking down into my cup. Kid immediately gasped and said "I'm so sorry, I didn't know how painful it is for you…" he jerked his chair around, sliding close to me and wrapping an arm around my shoulder. Another tear slid down my face, and another. They fell onto the table gently, but I didn't sob. I hadn't cried at all in years, because me and Akuma had too many things to deal with than to waste time, water, and energy crying. "Shhh…" he said, rocking me gently. I leaned into him dazededly, showing a rare flash of dependence and trust on someone other than my brother. He handed me a napkin, and I wiped my eyes with it. "Sorry…" I rasped, leaning away from him again and taking a deep breath.

"It's not how bad it was…it was how helpless I felt." I said softly, and he blinked. "I was so young…I didn't understand anything…I didn't know why they were doing that to us…I didn't understand anything…" I said, sniffling and then shook my head. "Hey, you were only a child." Kid said, scooting closer to me and sliding an arm around my shoulders again. I let it stay there, taking a tiny sip of coffee to calm myself down. The hot liquid burned its way down my throat, making me feel much better. "You sure know how to pick 'em." I said after a bit, smirking. "First date was arranged as a punishment, you didn't even plan a spot to take me, I start crying into my drink at your first comment, and everyone's probably hiding in the bushes right now, watching us."

We both snickered and shook our heads sadly. I felt around experimentally, and found- "Well, shoot me and hang me on a post." I said in surprise. "They actually are in the bushes." Kid blinked, and then closed his eyes. He chuckled, opening them. "I would have thought Akuma would have more originality." He said, deliberately looking away from the now rustling bushes. I sighed. "He does know better. He's probably there to warn them about how useless this is." I said, and then twitched as I caught the edge of Akuma's thoughts. _Come on, is she serious? I brought them all here, and all they do is sit and chat? Totally not worth Kage finding out…_ I frowned. "Actually, apparently he led them here. Let's see…oh, I know." I leaned forward and whispered in Kid's ear, smirking. He smirked back and nodded, as the bushes rustled even more.

_***Time Skip***_

We walked along arm in arm, but otherwise not touching each other at all. Kid told me about some of the people living in the buildings around us, warning me to not go here, but there had some nice rolls, the stuff here fell apart after the first use, but the stuff there was so durable he actually had some shirts from his childhood still left over, that he grew out of. In return I told him about the stuff in Witch Towns, and about the Grand Market, which was a huge indoor magic mall, and that he should remind me to take the others there sometime, because it had anything and everything for anyone and everyone, no joke. Typical first date bla-bla.

The souls behind us slowly faded, until we decided to head back to my apartment building, and there was only Akuma left. We stopped in front of my door for the goodbyes. "It was fun; we should lose basketball more often." I said seriously and we both chuckled. "Yeah, it wasn't all that bad." Kid said, shoving his hands in his pockets and blushing. I hugged him tightly, and even though we had planned it, he staggered slightly from the impact. He hesitantly hugged me back, and we both tried very hard not to smirk as Akuma's soul suddenly went into a steaming fit of rage. "Seriously, sometime again soon." I whispered, and he nodded. "That's for show…" he said, hugging me tighter. He pushed me away from him gently, and kissed the top of my forehead. "That's for real…" he whispered, before bowing to me and quickly walking away, a pink tinge to the back of his neck.

I stood there in shock, coming to myself after a little bit and turning around, opening the door and casually ducking the round of buckshot DK fired at me. _So, how'd it go?_ He asked, reloading and aiming at the door. "Absolutely wonderful…" I said dreamily, and he twitched all over. _Are you being…MOONY over him!?_ He spluttered, and I giggled. "Just messing with you Dk. We grabbed some coffee, walked around town, and then he showed me back here. Nothing for a even the most paranoid parental unit to get worried about." I said, draping myself over the couch and pulling a book out, reading to pass the time until Akuma stormed in.

_You sure?_ DK asked, pulling the book down. I glanced up at him, and then frowned. He was looking at me in…concern. "Are you being…jealous!?" I gasped, and he snorted. _Girl, I like my women prettier, older, and not related to me. I know technically you aren't, but I've been in your brother's head so long I sometime get you and Queenie mixed up, you're so similar._ I snorted, going back to my book. "So why are you being so protective? Even Akuma isn't harping on it as much as you." He shrugged helplessly. _I know we didn't exactly get along the first few years, but I feel like an older brother to you two, or a parent. My sister feels the same, somewhere._ I smirked, shaking my head sadly. "She doesn't feel anything." I said knowingly, and he growled.

_Watch it, that __**is**__ my sister you're talking about. She does feel, she's just so…well, you know…_ "Afraid." I said softly. He nodded. _Yeah. She got hurt once, she doesn't want to get hurt in the same way again. So she kinda hides herself away. You could have become her, if Akuma hadn't been so devoted or you had been more cowardly. You are anyway, a little bit._ I snorted, feeling the floorboards beginning to shake. "Something pissed off this way comes…" I sang, and Akuma slammed the door open, steam gushing from his ears and fire exploding from his eyes. Well, not really, but it was a close thing. "Hi." I said, giving him the live long and prosper sign.

He growled, transforming an arm into a blade. "Where is he?" I yawned. "One, I'm not telling someone who obviously wants to kill him. Two, you are overreacting. Three, I have no clue. Four, how did your spying go?" He growled, sighed, slammed his head against the wall, and flushed in turn to each answer. DK grinned and walked over to the kitchen to make himself some food. Thus, Akuma learned not to spy on me on dates, and how to stitch himself up after I missed with the butcher knife, and DK learned not to keep his panzerfaust in the oven when it was working. The apartment block owner learned how annoying and expensive it is when Nightstalker lodge in your rooms, and how much repair bills cost. I learned how to dodge a burning fireball of death. See, after date stuff is very educational!

_**EPIC tiny violin sounds, like a concert of violins, making the sad sounds at the same time. I brought hankies for you all! And that's only a bit of the backstory…like the tiniest bit…*evil grin* I give you free permission to sob in a corner, that's why I brought the hankies! *passes out hankies* There you go! If it's any consolation, all those people except for Jack died a horrible death at the hands of Medusa and Crona. Yes, Queenie and DK were a lot meaner back then, at least it seemed like it to Kage, because she was young and cute and innocent. *makes face* They fixed that. Now she's all hard core and awesome! *fist pump* Anyway…I expect a carrot in return! Review, Request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien!**_


	23. This is how we do it!

_**Yeesh, I'm on a wave! I started this just after I finished dinner, and I already have two chapters out today! I just have a lot of material to show you guys… (based off a Make a man out of you AMV)**_

_Kage's POV:_

The apocalypse was upon us. Armageddon had come. Jack had offered to help teach Kid, Blackstar, and Maka's team do a Chain Resonance, _and asked us to help out._ Yeah, the end of the world had definitely come. I could count on one hand the number of days he _hadn't_ tried to kill us, or sent someone after us to do it for him. On the other hand, to count the times he had threatened us, berated us, humiliated us, and generally made us miserable, I would need an army and a half. It just wasn't his style to even tolerate us for more than a few seconds. Perhaps it's becoming clear that he doesn't like us at this point. "Is there a word for how many ways we don't want to do this?" I asked Akuma as we walked up to the clearing we were going to be practicing in.

"Yes. It's called infinity." He said shortly, leaning against a nearby tree and rubbing his forehead. We both sighed and finished the climb, glaring at Jack as we emerged and he scowled back at us. The air between us was crackling and frozen with icy politeness. You could practically see your breath in the air. "As Kage and Akuma have _finally_ arrived, we can begin." Jack said coldly, turning away from us. "_You're _the one who asked _us_ to come here, bucko." I said, slouching against a tree. Akuma snickered and Jack stiffened. "We don't like you just as much as you don't like us." I said, studying my nails. "In fact, we would much rather _not_ be here. So what do we have to do, so we can do it and go away?" Jack sucked in a breath, before letting it out slowly. "One day you will learn to hold your tongue." He said through clenched teeth, and I stuck it out at him.

"Show the meisters the usual exercises, then get out of my sight." He said, whipping away from us again and striding away. "He seems to forget we aren't under his authority anymore…" I whispered in his direction, before Akuma and I started. "Okay guys, I've told Kid about this before, but for the rest of you this is unknown. It's standard, we do it every day before breakfast." I said, flipping up and doing a handstand on Akuma's outstretched hands, so we were a reverse image. We held it, balancing perfectly as Maka and the others gasped. "It builds trust, for obvious reasons. Think of it as a more advanced version of the trust fall." I said in explanation, and they all nodded.

"I know children who could do that. Move on." Jack said disdainfully, and we gritted our teeth. "Right oh lord of all you destroy." I said sarcastically, drawing my legs in as Akuma flipped. We spun, and Maka and the others flinched and covered their eyes as I landed on the ground, Akuma now balancing on my hands. "How's this smarty?" I shot at him, and they opened their eyes with a gasp. "Wow…" Maka said softly, and we shrugged. Jack gritted his teeth, clearly displeased we had managed it. "Move on." He spat, and we rolled our eyes before Akuma landed on the ground. We both assumed a trance position, palms upright on our neatly crossed legs. "This is done between partners to strengthen their bond…" I droned softly as we hummed to ourselves. I slid into Akuma's mind easily, as we talked back and forth mind to mind every day. Our souls swelled, then combined as we were safe in our own little mind pocket of the universe.

The other oohed and ahhed, and Jack told them to do the same. They all sat down, concentrating hard as we stood up and prompted them. After a little bit, Jack deemed them ready to try again. "Do it right this time." Maka barked at Blackstar, and he glared at her. "I always do, don't I?" he growled, and we both sighed, knowing this was going to fail. We were right, and after Kid and Maka tried to connect to Blackstar their resonance blew apart. "If you are not able to do this correctly, then you will be expelled, and you don't want that? Again." Jack said firmly, and they all sighed, blue souls billowing around them. They tried again, but as soon as the tendrils touched Blackstar's soul they all blew apart again. "It's still not working." Kid said in frustration.

_The reason they keep failing is obvious. The blue haired kid's is a dominant wavelength; it won't work calmly with the others. But he isn't the only problem they have, correct?_ Jack's voice echoed in our heads, and we blinked. _Yeah. _I said shortly, and Akuma nodded. "I told you to do it right!" Maka spat at Blackstar. "I am Maka." He said indignantly. "You never think anyone but yourself Blackstar! Try working with everybody else this time." She yelled at him, and he snorted. "Why bother? Who would wanna work with an idiot like you anyway?" he said carelessly, and we sighed. "Can't you see you're the weak link here?" He continued as she gritted her teeth. "Say that again you punk." She snarled, stepping forward. Kid held out a hand in front of her. "Guys, stop it."

"Take a break." Jack said abruptly, turning around. "Maybe talking things out will help clear your minds of cobwebs." He said insolently, and we shook our heads. "There's no point in talking to a fool." Maka said harshly, looking away from Blackstar. We slipped away from them and followed Jack. He was waiting for us down the path, and he smirked slightly when he saw us. "Still can't curb your curiosity? Wasn't that what got you into this mess in the first place?" He said, and we growled. "Why are you joining with the DWMA, and more importantly, being so nice to us?" I asked him. He sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Honestly? I've…been wondering something."

We blinked. "What?" I said in shock, and he sat down with a thump on a fallen log. "You've made deals with demons before…you can help me. The Pumpkin King is demanding me to do things he has never asked anyone before, and I don't dare refuse him. You know how hard it is to say no to something that close to your soul. All I ask is you help in this, and I won't ever bother you again." He said, looking up at us desperately. I bit my lip. _What things?_ DK said intently, frowning. "He wants me to kill you, obviously, whenever possible. He's also been demanding I sacrifice meisters or weapons to him, and I don't know what he does with them once they get there. His magic is getting stronger every day, and a few times I've blacked out and found myself in a completely different place. I don't know which of us is in control anymore!" He said dazededly, shuddering.

"DK?" Akuma asked, and he frowned in thought. _If I had to hazard a guess, he wants out just like us. Although he has much more space and influence than we ever did, he's getting greedy. I think he may want to be in the physical world again, which is something even we haven't been able to accomplish. This is the closest I can get._DK said, gesturing to his transparent body. "What's the method he might use?" I asked, and he frowned. _Well…he should theoretically be able to get out like we did if he finds a real host, not a temporary one like Jack. You're just a stepping stone for him; a human host isn't going to cut it. He needs a pure Kishin, or Reaper, or a Great Old One like us. Since we're dead, and the Reaper's not likely to go anywhere near him, it's an even split between Asura and the Reaper's kid. Probably Asura, because he used to be a Great Old One, and he's older._

I gulped. "How do we stop him?" I asked, and he shrugged. "We go to their version of Halloween." Jack said, looking up. "I can manage it easily, and your brother goes there every month anyway. We'll kill him." DK, Akuma, and myself stared at him. _You do know he can swat me and my sister like a bug…with our true names…_ Jack frowned, and then grinned. "I won't play my cards close to the vest anymore." He bent forward and whispered in my ear. I bit my lip, thinking very hard as he explained his plan to me. "We'll help." I said firmly, stepping away from him. "Now let's get the meisters taken care of." Akuma said, watching Maka run past us, screaming and crying.

_Lord Death's POV:_

"Are you asking me this for real?" I asked Kage, scratching my head as Jack and Akuma stood behind her, tapping their feet impatiently. "Yes. A temporary leave of absence for me and Akuma as we go help with Jack." She said firmly, putting her hands on her hips. "And you're agreeing with this?" I asked him. He nodded once. "They are vital to make sure my plan succeeds." He said, putting a hand on both their shoulders. "What plan is that?" Death Scythe asked suspiciously, glaring at them. "To help save the DWMA from a threat infinitely worse than Asura." They all said at once. I frowned, thinking it over. "Lock and the others will stay to help with things here of course." Kage said, picking at her nails. I sighed. "You swear on your souls this won't hurt the DWMA at all?" I asked them, and they all nodded. I swallowed. "Then…you may go…" I said, wondering just what I had unleashed with those words.

_Kage's POV:_

We ran, Jack darting ahead of us, seeing the moon laughing ahead. I turned to see Death City for what I knew to probably be the last time, seeing the DWMA rising tall and proud against the sky. A tear ran down my cheek as I pressed a hand to my chest. _Kid… I'm sorry for leaving. We won't be having that second date after all._ I thought, my eyes burning for some reason. "Kage, what _is_ your part in Jack's plan?" Akuma asked, seeing the tear. "Nothing much." I said, wiping it away and forcing a smile. But my soul betrayed me, shaking with grief. _You aren't going to be coming back there, are you kid?_ DK asked sympathetically, hiding the sorrow from Akuma. _DK…you said it yourself. "Only a pure Kishin, great Old one, or Reaper body will do for the Pumpkin King." Put it together._ He sighed. _You aren't going to tell him, are you?_ I shook my head. _Don't tell him either. There's a chance we might actually win._

'_**Nother cliffy, who missed those? :D Nobody, I'm sure. Listening to Bad End Night by Vocaloid as I write this, love that song. New favorite! If you figure it out, tell me what you think! (Read Emma-sempai's review for chapter 22, it has a little accidental hint in it) *evil grin* I can't wait to see your reactions! Review, Request, Rcomment! Auf Wedersien!**_


	24. Kidnap the Sandy Claws! Or Brew---

_**Sorry about the delay, SOME PARENTS say that since I haven't done anything else all summer vacation I had to "take a break" from the computer yesterday. In other words, they kicked me off. I mean, just because I only leave it to make lunch, breakfast, and dinner (I eat at the computer now), go to the bathroom, and sleep doesn't mean I'm addicted! I can stop any time I want! So then…time for the fight against Brew. I'll be kicking Kage and the others out of here for a little bit as I focus on that, but I will bring them back soon! I'm thinking…hard…on a weekend…MY BRAIN HURTS! Hehe, sorry, but there are rules. Okay then this is Lock, Shock, and Barrel's moment! *puts spotlight on them* **_

_**PUT THAT DOWN! (Shock)**_

_***Jumps out of spotlight* (Barrel)**_

_***hisses at spotlight and shoots it with a dagger* (Lock)**_

_**Spoilsports. Anyway, this is the very moment I came up with them! Yes, DWMA vs. Arachnophobia is when I came up with those crazy hooligans. So they are sort of replacing Kage and Akuma as main characters for a little bit…sorry… (Based off of a Undead AMV)**_

_Lock's POV:_

I hummed Halloween to myself softly as I painted my nails a nice red. "Hey, we heard that song before." The scythe girl said, turning to me. "It's what we use in Song Resonance." Shock said, rubbing some wool together to build up a charge. "No, I heard Kage and Akuma hum it as a signal." The Reaper boy this time. "Whistle and wait, respond and return, cursed meet, cursed part, dead we meet again." I said, blowing on my nails. "We use it as a signal too. We whistle and wait if we need help, and we respond and return to the source, no matter who asked." Barrel said, rubbing his gloved hands together. "What's with this "cursed" stuff? You guys are so depressing." Noisy blue kid. "It's a tradition. Way back when, we were so hunted that most of us had a life expectancy of a few months, years if we were lucky. Cursed meet because witches were after us too, cursed part because we have demons in our souls, dead we meet again because most of us died in the year between meetings. In time, it was used as an ironic, then actual, salute." Shock said absently, sneezing out some sparks.

"It's like "we come in peace" for us, only not." I said, streaking some bright orange nail polish in a wavy pattern. The scythe girl spoke up again. "You guys seem so in synch, like you're constantly resonating with each other. Kage and Akuma finish each other's sentences and make the same hand motions a lot." She said in awe, and we sighed. "They have their own reasons. We actually are resonating constantly." I said, smirking. "See, we're mostly witch, so the meister and weapon parts of our souls are used up when we resonate. Since they don't do much otherwise, we resonate at all times. It really helps out a lot." Barrel said, shivering. They all looked at us speechlessly, and we rolled our eyes and looked away. We listened as the crazy Professor told us our rolls, and we all started hiking there. I put my long dark hair in a ponytail, covering my ears with some fuzzy black earmuffs. I dotted some yellow on my nails quickly, blow drying them as we walked on.

"Cutting it a bit close aren't you sis?" Shock snorted, and I snarled at him. "You try painting your nails on a _boat_." Barrel sighed ahead of me. "Still, why did you take so long? We need you for this." I hung my head. "I wanted to do more than one." I said sheepishly, and Shock snorted. "Shut up." I hissed at him, and he rolled his eyes dramatically. Barrel ran a hand through his close cut red hair. "We need to be on guard, not bickering. Start looking for enemies guys." He snapped, and we both jumped and started scanning the ridges of snow. I saw a puff of kicked up snow a second before Shock did. Arachnophobia agents swarmed out form hiding, screaming war cries. The meisters jumped, obviously daydreaming again and belatedly readied their weapons.

I jumped, feeling my left hand start to heat up. "Wind swords!" I shouted, and the swirling grey polish on my right hand glowed, sending out a huge gust of wind towards the charging agents. "That's all?" The blue haired kid snorted when a few of them got knocked over, nothing more. But I had accomplished what I wanted, namely, a stable band of oxygen around my targets. "Fire knives!" I yelled, spraying thin streaks of fire from my left hand, and they ignited with a whoosh, burning the Arachnophobia attackers into a charred crisp. I landed, blowing smoke off of my left hand and clenching my other. "Let's keep moving now." I said, pushing up blue hair's jaw and waltzing past him. Barrel and Shock gave me high fives.

"How did you do that?" this kid had two spikes of black hair and crazy glasses. "I'm a dagger witch. I paint my nails and throw my knives. That's all there is to it." I said sweetly, smirking. Shock and Barrel quietly snickered behind me, snorting in their efforts not to make a scene. The meisters glared at us and we kept moving. Kid came back to us. "Uh, hey, I was wondering, do you guys know where Kage and her brother went off to?" he asked me hopefully, and I glared at him. "If she didn't tell you I won't either" I said stiffly, secretly worried. I didn't even know she and Akuma were gone. Just shows how sneaky she could be sometimes. His face fell. "Hey, are we talking about the same Kage here?" Shock said. "Secretive, snappy dress, green eyes, blond hair and a huge dislike of Jack?" Kid nodded. "Why the hell are you worried? That girl can take down anything less than a god with one hand behind her back, and that's when her brother _isn't _backing her up. As things are, she's got it made in the shade." Shock chuckled, still spitting little sparks out with his words.

Kid nodded. "Yeah, I know, but still…" Barrel put a hand on his shoulder. "Dude, as her friends, we're with you on that. There are two things Kage does not include in her vocabulary, which are _back out while you still can _and _in over your head_. She's gotten into a lot of trouble because of that. But as of right now, she's always clawed her way back from wherever she's been thrown by Life. We point her in the right direction and watch as she starts chucking stones, and occasionally help her to her feet after a really tough beat down. But I have yet to ever hear the words "help, please help, I need help," pass her stubborn lips. Just let her get to her feet before you start asking questions."

Shock put a hand on his other shoulder. "Now, as her fellow Nightstalker…PUSH OFF!" they both shouted, shoving him forward gently. I rolled my eyes, moving forward a little. "You'd do worse than her, Reaper. First lesson in dating a Nightstalker, don't let her clanmates get wind of it." I teased him, pushing him in the direction of his friends. He nodded, stumbling off. We all walked in introspective silence for a few more moments, and then came to the magnetic field. None of us had Soul Perception, so we just watched, waiting for the first sign of some new soldiers. I saw a flash of movement, but after watching the area around it carefully, detected nothing. _But still…that snake witch's minions…what are they doing? Nobody's heard anything from Free or Eruka for months. They're still at large, I'm sure of it._

I heard Stein and Marie say they were going in the field, and we kept our backs to the meisters as they gathered around the lantern girl, keeping their hands warm. "Hey, guys, don't you want to come get warm?" Maka called, and we shook our heads. "Snow and ice are merely the terrain we have. The temperature does not factor into our fight pattern, our rest pattern, or our sleep pattern. We are adjusted for all of them." I said, raking the horizon with my eyes. "Uh…okay then." She said, turning back to it. I grinned, and Shock rolled his eyes at me. "Incoming." Barrel said, pointing to the ranks of Arachnophobia agents marching toward us. "That's way too many for us to fight!" Ox cursed, grabbing his weapon. I sighed, tossing my hair. "Barrel, Shock, shall we take out the garbage?" I asked, blowing on my nails. "I thought you'd never ask…" Shock said, electrical pulses swarming out around his body. Barrel grinned, spinning his arms at the elbow. "Let's do this."

"Attention DWMA students! Surrender now and you will be killed painlessly!" called out a leader, and we stepped forward. "These students are under the temporary protection of the Nightstalker. Leave now and only most of you will die." I said calmly, swinging my hands back and forth. Shock provided a visual aid, and a tiny lightning bolt slammed into the hill a few feet from the nearest gollum. They didn't move. I grinned. "We are Nightstalker. Fall in, advance, send your slaughtering armies against us and we will charge into their ranks, weapons in hand and smiles on our faces." I said, my hands starting to heat up. "You generals, your numbers, your champions, send them out against us. Pour your might and power out upon us and we will take it. We do not run from our enemies." Barrel intoned, staffs beginning to whirl.

"And when the sun baths the sky red, the ground will be wet with blood and littered with bodies. Your generals will be dead, your numbers decimated, armies destroyed, champions slain, your might crumbled and power shattered. We will be standing in the wreckage with our bloody swords held high, as an offering to our demonic gods. It will be us with the bloody grins and flashing swords in the night, us with the roaring fire and rioting feast, and you on the pyre, your blood our drink and your bones out meat, your home our stalking ground and your family our prey. We are Nightstalker!" Shock shouted at them just as the first wave reached us. "HAAAAAAAAAAA!" I shouted, spraying a long arch of fire daggers at them, searing them as Barrel jumped up, slamming his staff into the head of a gollum, destroying it with a grinding crumble. Shock simply tapped his foot against the ground, and all the people within a hundred yards were incinerated with a clap of thunder.

We started moving faster, weaving in and out of our enemies with death trailing in our wake, dancing the dance we were born knowing. The Dance of Death, dodging attacks and dealing out our own, slaughtering our opponents without mercy. Barrel slammed his staff into the ground, splitting it open and creating a zigzagging crack that swallowed up dozens of the Arachnophobians, and Shock pounded his fist into the gollums, blowing them apart one by one. My daggers simply found many new resting places in the hearts of Arachnophobia, searing them, blasting through them, or just simply killing them. About five, no more than ten, minutes later, we all landed in a neat circle, our enemies all dead, and souls floating around us so thick they were like a fog. Just like always.

_Kage's POV:_

I shivered, stuck in a box made of cold, cold stone. I was so tired, so tired. I just wanted to sleep, but I couldn't close my eyes. Something kept them open, and my weary bones ached with the damp slowly trickling in, like that of an old, old woman's. "I just want to sleep." I told the darkness, needing someone to talk to me. Or even just hearing my own voice could be comfort enough, but somehow the noise didn't come out like it was supposed to. It didn't come out at all. I tried feeling my throat, but my hand wouldn't' move. I was so tired. Did my lips even move? I tried again, but they were numb and I couldn't tell. What was going on? Why was I here? A memory drifted by me, but I glimpsed what it contained and shoved it away. That past was too painful, and besides, it wasn't mine. Wasn't it? It looked like me but didn't seem quite _right_, like seeing the sky the wrong color. Suddenly someone fell on top of me, and I blinked, trying to gasp, but I didn't move. A small, young child picked herself up, looking at me in awe and fear. I saw the face, and shrieked inside my head. It was _me_.

I woke up with a gasp, heart pounding. I grabbed my chest, feeling that weight of my own, younger body on me still for one terrible second, then it was gone. I shivered with fear, laying back down, seeing it was still dark out. I had just dreamed something that wasn't right. I had dreamed one of _Queenie's _memories, of me. This raised an old, deep fear in my gut, one that had sent me many a time to my brother's side to be comforted. What if as the years went on and our souls blended, what if we stopped being…separate? We were basically, much as both denied it, perfect clones of each other, although I was the younger copy. What separated us? Where did Queenie end and I begin? But this kinship, this likeliness, was exactly what we were counting on for Jack's plan to work.

_**Like the others? Cool speech, huh? Oh, if anyone's asking, there is no Oogie Boogie in my fanfic. Charlotte was Jack's Sally, I suppose, but I didn't mean to include her. (No offense to her of course) Just Jack, Lock, Shock, Barrel, and the Pumpkin King. (Halloween town too, and the song, but those aren't characters, and yes I know the Pumpkin King and Jack are the same person. I split them for this, okay?) *cough*there's another hint in the chapter*cough*. Hehe, sorry, I keep trying to let the cat out of the bag. My mind's going like "no, don't do it, I need to keep them in suspense!" but my hands are going like "nope." My dad just went off for a job interview so everybody hope for him to get it please! Beam positive energy at him, like Spirit just before the test. *beams energy* Okay, keep it up guys! Review, request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien!**_


	25. Everyone Hail to the Pumpkin Soul

_**Well, I've put this off as long as I could. No more filler from me, here we go. :( Where are you guys? I just got Great Zero and Emma-sempai, the rest of you have been sucked into a black hole or something! Oh well, don't hate on me for this. (Based off a My Immortal)**_

_Kage's POV:_

Our footsteps crunched against dead leaves, mist swirling around our ankles like ghostly water. The blood moon high overhead was twined with dark cloud, its reddish glow painting our faces. There was dead silence, no birds, not even ravens, creaked their hollow cries in that utterly still forest behind us, dead, black branches grabbing for the sky like drowning fingers. The only sounds were our breathing and the slow, stealthy steps were made as we strode through the open field. We paused, seeing a crooked, leaning fence made of rotting wood dead ahead. There was an old, creaky sign nailed into a leaning post, sagging against the ground. _ "First marker. Past this fence you will see horrible creatures. They are Soul-suckers; and they eat the souls of all living things that enter their domain. Avoid those, they're nasty. If there are more than ten, and there usually is, flying above them is your best bet. I would highly avoid just running through them if I were you, they can be very sneaky. Don't let them grab you. Have a nice day!"_ I snorted. "This is the way you warn people?"

DK shrugged. _I was in a hurry. Your brother had gone up ahead without me warning him and I thought I should post a sign for next time._ Akuma sighed. "And you only just barely saved me from being eaten, you jerk." DK grinned slyly. _I told you to hold on a moment, didn't I? Your fault for not listening. _"Hush, all of you." Jack said quietly, staring at movement behind the fence. "Demon King, why do they never cross the fence?"DK growled. _Just DK, it's not all that hard. I have no bloody clue why they don't, and neither of us has ever been brave enough to ask, okay? My guess it's some hold or deal he has on them._ He darted to the edge of the fence and whistled. There was a grunt, and this rotting, shambling corpse slammed against the rotten wood fence, snarling. DK turned to us with a grin. _See? Can't cross._

Jack sighed. "You've just alerted all of them to our presence, haven't you?" DK shrugged, smirking. _Ah, you guys can fly, can't you? I like baiting the dumb things._ Jack snarled. "It's not that simple you reckless demon! We can't fly because that alerts him we're all here at once. I want to keep as much of this a surprise as long as possible." DK snorted. _Dude, you could have told that to me earlier. Now you're gonna have to play "cat and mouse" with these things._ I sighed. "DK, since you've already done enough damage, go run and be the bait. Meet us back at the second marker." He pouted, and then backflipping over the fence and letting the creature chase after him. All was well until the grass rustled and more shapes rose from it, almost surrounding DK, but he smirked and dodged them easily.

"He is a reckless fool." Jack said again, after a moment. We both scowled. "He's got much more to lose from this than we do." I said, sliding under the fence. Jack jumped over it, and Akuma crawled through the middle. "All the more reason for me not to trust him. The more you lose, the more you stand to gain by betrayal." Jack said, slipping through the long grass. We followed silently, looking at our feet and behind us for more of the creatures. Suddenly I was slammed on the ground, and an icy feeling of despair swamped me as hands pinned me face down on the cold earth. I struggled, spitting dirt out of my mouth, trying to call for Akuma, but I heard a cry and he was pinned on the dirt beside me, panic flaring in his eyes. We had been stealthily surrounded, and the creatures were all around us. I closed my eyes. _We failed before we could even begin. I'm going to die. There's no escape._

There was a thud, and I was dragged up, my eyes snapping open to see Jack's face, streaked with dark blood. "Get a hold of yourself girl!" he barked, shaking me and setting me on my feet. I wobbled, leaning on Akuma. Jack was facing down more creatures, black scythe in hand. I risked a glance behind us. The two creatures that jumped us were on the ground, headless. Part of my brain started revving up. Jack had saved us. Of his own violation. Akuma transformed, and I caught him, still fighting the despair these things seemed to leak, swinging it at them silently. A few moments later we were running again, in single file with Jack in the lead, panting, leaving the shattered corpses behind us, still trying to drag themselves after our souls. "I saved you because I need you." Jack said quietly, not turning around, sounding like he was talking to himself more than us. "I saved you because I need you on my side for this. I still hate you. You killed Charlotte." I sighed, hanging my head.

"Jack, dude, seriously, get over it." Akuma snapped. "We did it without knowing, and the demons were sorry for it too. Not everyone can become an emotionless robot at will, unlike you." Jack swerved, glaring at us with a fire in his eyes. The air around his hands shimmered, like he was fighting the urge to summon his weapon. "How _dare_ you-" he began, and I slapped him. "Focus on the job. Stop letting emotions rule your head. We are in hostile territory." I barked, grabbing his shoulders and turning him around, jabbing his back with a pointy fingernail. "Insult us and kill us later, if there is a later." He started walking again, still ignoring us. Even Jack would let emotions get ahead of him, sometimes, but he always followed the logical rules Nightstalker set down. There was a job, grudges and insults could be picked up and avenged later.

We came to the fence without any more ambushes, and DK was leaning against another sign, whistling, hands behind his head. Despite his air of nonchalance, there was a cut on his cheek and his clothes were torn. Here, it seemed, he was material enough to be hurt. "Hey, look who made it!" he said cheerfully, walking towards us. He fell into step behind me, smirking, and we walked past the sign. The sign he had been leaning on was of little more help than the last one. _"Hey, you made it this far! Good job! Now you gotta get through the maze! Good luck with that one, and make sure to leave your bones by an intersection so the other people coming through know not to go that way."_ I shook my head sadly. "DK, you seriously need to stop being so morbid."

He chuckled. _I'm dead, it's kinda hard._ Jack shushed us both, and we stepped into a dark hole, the smell of wet earth all around us. We walked, and occasionally Jack, DK, or Akuma would redirect us, saying they knew not to go that way because such-and-so was guarding it. But, eventually, we came out by a clearing. Jack and DK swallowed hard. "I got something to let the others know how we're doing, don't worry." I said to them reassuringly, and Akuma edged closer to me, holding my hand. We all stepped forward, seeing a dark shape in the very middle of the cemetery, surrounded by rows of coffins. "Kage, Akuma, Jack. Welcome." It said, spreading it's arms and grinning at us with its pumpkin mouth, sharp teeth glinting on the inside. Then it frowned. "Demon King…Nightmare Queen…what is this?"

DK gulped, but stepped forward, and Queenie materialized, standing behind him. "You don't belong in the mortal world." He said, and me and Akuma started, because we could hear him with our ears, as well as in our minds. "We're here to keep you from it." he said defiantly, and I could smell the fear reeking from him and Queenie. The Pumpkin King scowled deeper. "Then…die." He said flatly, and stretched out a hand towards them. "By the deal and bargain, by the sacred contract, I-" me and Akuma slammed into him with a Soul Force, and Jack swung for his head with his scythe. He stumbled, but was only caught off guard, not wounded at all. He began again. "By the deal and bargain-" Queenie and DK attacked him with us, keeping him from finishing his spell.

We hacked and cut, slammed him again and again with Soul Forces and shadows, demons and magic, but he didn't seem to be weakening or wounded at all. He was merely cut off from finishing the spell that would kill Queenie and DK. He growled, slamming his arms out horizontally, and Akuma, Jack, and I were blasted into stone markers, but Queenie and DK were untouched. "ENOUGH!" he roared, eyes glowing red. "You are Nightstalker. You bow to me." He growled, and we slid to the ground, forced in a kneeling position. "By the deal and bargain, by the sacred contract, I destroy you." He snarled, stretching his scarecrow hands out to Queenie and DK. They grabbed each other's hands, smiling defiantly. "I erase you from all memory and existence." I gritted my teeth, heaving against what held me down, but I was Nightstalker, outcast or not, and helpless. They began to glow.

"NO!" Akuma and I yelled, seeing their souls starting to spin. "By your own True Names, you are broken as your word has been broken." The Pumpkin King intoned, closing his eyes. "Kyōfu, Gekido." They closed their eyes, waiting. _Bye Kage, Bye Akuma. _DK, Gekido, said, opening one eye and smirking at us reassuringly."DIE." He roared, opening his eyes as we screamed. There was a soundless blast of light, slamming me, Jack, and Akuma against our slabs of stone, drowning out my wails and Akuma's sobs as the Nightmare Queen and Demon King were snuffed out from existence. We slid back to the ground, tears pouring from our eyes. The Pumpkin King lowered his hands, smirking at the spot where there was a scorch mark on the dead grass and bare earth. Our ears rang, and I stared numbly at the same place. _No…_ I closed my eyes, mourning them silently. They snapped open, glaring at the shadowy shape in front of me. _Alright buddy. Game on._ I snarled, getting to my feet.

_**Oh, how you all must hate me…if I may point it out, if you really, **__really__** want it I can make them not dead, it won't affect the plotline at all. Yes, you guys can choose if they are really and truly dead or not. I'm giving you guys the reins of power. *hands reins over and steps back* Go for it! And yes, they do beat him to a bloody pulp later, I just need the okay or not if certain demonic people are still amongst the "living" or not. Personally, I like them, so I want to resurrect them. A lot of my favorite characters die in my fanfics, I can't help it. *looks sheepish* Tomorrow's my birthday! Happy freaking birthday to me! I don't mind telling you guys this, I'll be fourteen. :) Review, so you can tell me to save or not save Queenie and DK, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien!**_


	26. Merger

_**Well, I have one person who said to resurrect them and one person who thought it was a given. Wait, "other" fav characters? So, they may or may not be back in action. It's my birthday, it's my birthday! (Literally) Give me presents in the form of reviews and I'll be happy. That's why I didn't post yesterday, because I got a break. There may be a weird fluctuation in chapter release dates, because I'm starting to train for the London time zone. Aka, go to sleep in the middle of the afternoon and wake up at 2 AM. So be expecting chapters that get up at odd times. *yawns* It's actually kinda nice, getting up in the middle of the night and being alone for about five hours, watching the sun rise 'n stuff. What sucks is going to bed sometime around fourish, when everyone else is eating dinner. *sad face* Okay then, let's do this. (Based off a I Will Not Bow AMV, which is rather ironic when you think about it)**_

_Kage's POV:_

He turned, seeing me and Akuma standing shakily on our feet. "You will be punished for your defiance." He said smoothly, facing us and smirking. Jack managed to get to his feet as well, panting. "I've come to strike a bargain." I said firmly, and he stared at me, slightly caught off guard. "What?" Jack sighed and smiled at me just a little. _That's good. Keep going._ Akuma stared at me. "W-what?" he stuttered, and I licked my lips nervously. _Calm down, I got this. Be ready. _"You want to leave. I can help." I said, and he frowned. "You are human. I need-" I cut him off. "No, I'm not. Feel our souls." He cocked his head, and Akuma gave a yelp as a tingling, searing pain shot through my chest. He swayed, uncertain. "How is this possible?" He said slowly.

"The Kishins and us were like genetic clones, identical in physical makeup and personalities, sometimes. So, we are now their Great Old Ones." I said nervously, hoping what I said so far was true. Akuma suddenly caught on. "KAGE! You can't, not after them!" he said, eyes welling up with tears. "I am not the one making the choice." I said calmly, desperately hoping the spell I cast would work. The Pumpkin King swayed, as if thinking. "And what would you ask in return?" he said finally, and I took a deep breath. "To leave my brother and Jack alone. Do not attack them." I said firmly, and he grinned. "Deal. Step closer, and we will begin." I stepped forward shakily, suddenly realizing the magnitude of damage I could cause if I failed.

First off, I would be dead. Second, the Pumpkin King could stay in the real world however long he wanted. Third…remained to be seen. He laid both huge scarecrow hands on my shoulders, and what little color the shadowy spirit version of this world had drained, until everything was black and white. I gritted my teeth, feeling myself being slowly drained, my consciousness being bled away into an infinity of black. I swallowed, hoping the plan worked, and hid a smile as the sucking, draining feeling stopped, and color returned, slightly. I blinked, seeing Akuma staring at me in anguish. _Sorry, but this has to be done. Don't worry; we'll get him in the end._ I thought at him, and then let blackness well up in my vision.

_Akuma's POV_:

I fell to my knees, seeing the Pumpkin King disappear and Kage stagger. She turned, and I saw her eyes were the pitch black and blood red of one possessed. "Leave." She said in the Pumpkin King's voice, waving a hand at us dismissively. I was about to protest and then attack, but Jack grabbed my collar and suddenly I was sitting in the grass, in the real world again, by the stream where our misfortune has begun. Jack sat down with a pleased sigh. "Well, Phase One is accomplished. And it was done completely according to plan." I stared at him. "But…MY SISTER'S DEAD!" I roared at him, and he shook his head. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but it isn't _your _sister who is dead. Demon King?" I opened my mouth to ask him what the hell he was talking about, but then I said "Yeah, it was her time. She told me just before the spell activated."

I closed it, in shock. "What…did you do to us?" I asked him, in awe, and he smirked. "It was a tricky little spell, and actually Kage did most of it. She completely fused your souls, making you and the demons one and the same. It served two purposes, one, to make sure they did _not_ die when the Pumpkin King blasted their physical forms, and two, to give Kage a chance to remain alive after he consumed her soul. He ate the Nightmare Queen, not Kage, so now Kage is still conscious inside his mind, waiting her chance. The instant she begins to do anything but exist or see, he'll know she's there and what she did." I blinked. "So, wait, DK and me are the same person now?" I asked, and then said "Ah, duh. Geez Akuma, you're much dumber now that you're the same person as me. Hey, wait, what do we do now that I can't get out of your body? This sucks…better than being dead though, I suppose."

I held a hand over my chest, breathing hard. "Wait, Queenie's dead?" I asked, rubbing my forehead in confusion. I then sighed. "Yeah, my sis is kinda dead. But now Kage's the new Nightmare Queen, so really nothing changed, except for we're now literally the same person." I chuckled. "Having a conversation with myself is really weird." I said, shuddering in fake horror, and DK, using my mouth, laughed. "Yeah, it's going to suck when I'm all "the world is awesome today" and you're all like "everyone else shrivel up and die". Every other word out of our mouth is going to be a contradiction to the word before it." Jack sighed. "It seems like there are a few drawbacks, but on the whole I think this worked out quite well. Now, on to Phase Two."

_Lord Death's POV:_

The gloom was thick about DWMA. Not only had we failed in beating Arachnophobia, Jack, Kage, and Akuma were still missing. Their friends hadn't been very happy about that decision. "What do you _mean_, you let them go off alone!?" Maka shouted, brandishing her book. "We could have used them on the Brew mission." Blackstar growled, hands in his pockets. "Father, is this true?" Kid asked, concern in his eyes. I rubbed the back of my head. "They seemed okay with the decision." Suddenly, there was a thump, and Jack and Akuma fell from the air, landing in a heap. "Damnit DK! Watch where you're aiming next time Akuma shouted, rubbing his head. Jack stood up. "I'm beginning to regret fusing the two of you." Akuma glared at him. "Me too buddy. It's harder to give yourself an offensive gesture than it is to do it when you're in another body."

"Guys!" Maka shouted happily, then looked around. "Where's Kage?" She asked Jack, wiggling her book in warning. He shrugged, and Akuma stood up. "Last I saw her she was rampaging through a Witch's Town." He said, dusting himself off. He got hit with a Maka-chop. "What happened?" I asked, ignoring his moans. "We were unable to stop the intended target with Plan A, so we went to Plan B." Jack said, stretching. "Kage is now the host to the Pumpkin King." We all stared at him. I Reaper-chopped his head, and he fell to the ground as well. "Seriously, it's all still according to plan, or at least that's what they say." Akuma said, sitting up. "They?" I asked, scratching my head. Akuma flushed. "Ah, yeah, about that, me and the Demon King are now the same person, we share the same body, something like that."

His eyes suddenly turned black and red, and he chuckled darkly. "Yep, we're stuck like glue. He sucks at using my powers too." They turned back to green and white. "Shut it DK." They changed again. "Like I said, hard to make rude gestures to yourself, isn't it?" Back to green. "SHUT IT DK!" Back to red. "Or what? You can't punish yourself!" Green. "I'll watch an exorcist movie." Red. "Why you little cheater! I demand equalizer!" Green. "Nope." Red. "Damn it." Green. "Yeah, so anyway, we need to talk to Lord Death." Red. "Yeah, let's tell the Reaper how you nearly stuck us all through a tree on the way here." Akuma said, arguing with himself. "This is giving me a headache…" Spirit moaned, rubbing his forehead as Akuma's eyes flashed between demonic and human. He turned, and one eye was the black and red, the other the normal green and white. "What?" Akuma's voice said, echoing, and we all gulped.

"Your eye color changes due to whoever's in charge." Jack said, not looking down. "Whoa…" Akuma said, looking in my mirror. "Hey, we look like a crappy photo! You know, negative color ?" DK said, pointing to their eyes. The one eye was normal, with white whites and a green pupil. The one DK controlled had a pitch black white, with red pupils. "Creepy…" They said in unison, and we all sweatdropped. "Anyway…" Jack coughed. "We need all meisters to evacuate to the DWMA. Our guess is the Pumpkin King will be coming here, which seems to be confirmed from his path of destruction so far. So far he has not actively killed Witches, Kishin, or humans, just anything and everything in his way, testing out his powers. His real target is this Academy." Jack said, playing with a knife he pulled from his pocket. "It makes logical sense. The Grim Reaper founded this place to fight his kind, and he was killed by the Great Old Ones, the Reaper specifically. He wants revenge, and is probably hungry for more useful souls. Death Scythes, the Reaper and his son, all would make a very tempting meal for him."

I blinked. "So what do you suggest our plan of action should be?" I asked, cocking my head. He threw the knife up, catching it and throwing it again. "Offense. Us, my Witch allies, and some of your meisters, ones that don't mind dying and taking orders from their mortal enemies." He said firmly. "Nightstalker may have to obey the Pumpkin King if he directly uses his power, but he won't do that. His focus will be on the academy, not on his own people. We won't be anything more than buzzing flies around his head, and just as easily swatted. The Witches and meisters can attack him directly, but they don't have near enough power to hurt him. So, we use what I planned. Kage is sill conscious within him, if she can harness enough power at the right time, she can reverse the spell used for him to take over her body and send him back where he belongs."

Kid gulped. "Wait, you're saying he's in _Kage's_ body!?" he said angrily, and Jack shrugged. "She volunteered for it, I didn't force her. It was either her or her brother, I don't have the physical makeup that mimics a Great Old One like they do. Besides, as an outcast, banished Nightstalker, the hold the Pumpkin King has over her and her brother is considerably lessened. Her even more so than Akuma, because we never bothered to brand him, thus _fully_ banishing him from the clan. If she can break free, she stands a much better chance of killing him than we do." He said, catching the knife between his fingers. "And our sister has one heck of a grudge against certain demonic figures." Akuma said, eyes turning red. "Honestly, once she breaks free, I plan to just sit back and watch the show, maybe grab some popcorn, enjoy his gruesome and bloody demise."

Jack coughed. "Be that as it may, she still needs to actually break free, and currently that is our biggest problem." Akuma's eyes turned back to green. "Yeah, true. Maybe if we attempt to Resonate?" Jack frowned, twirling his knife between his fingers absently. "Perhaps…we'd need more than you, me, and the others though…does she know any of these meisters well enough to attempt Soul Resonance with them?" he asked me, pausing his knife twirling for a moment. I shrugged, looking at Kid and the others. "Maybe, Maka's team might be able to try…" Jack nodded, returning to twirling his knife. "So then. Me, Akuma, Lock, Shock, and Barrel, with your meister team, yes, that should be able to help her break free, especially if we do a Song resonance…" he mused, flicking his knife up and down, not noticing how it barely missing slicing his chin.

"So, just a recap." I said, putting my hands behind my back. "We gather all our people here, let a few of my meisters help you, and some Witches, hope they can successfully complete a Song Resonance, thus letting Kage out, and then backing off and waiting for her to kill the Pumpkin King?" Jack and Akuma nodded. I Reaper-chopped them both, roaring "ARE YOU BLOODY INSANE!?" Akuma's eyes flashed to black, rubbing his head. "Yes, why do you ask?" he said matter-of-factly, as Jack moaned, shaking his head. "Sorry Lord Death, but that's the only option we have, unless you have a few dozen Great Old Ones on your side." I shrugged, shaking my head. "Fine, if it is the only way." I said wearily, and they sighed, letting their heads fall back down on the ground.

_**Ya! DK's back! I realized that it indeed **__would__** affect my desired plotline if I had both of them come back, so after excruciating internal debate I picked DK. Hey, it's not like Queenie was all that prominent a character anyway, she kinda faded into the background, instead of popping out like I wanted her too…shame…oh well. *shrugs* Guess what! Only eight more days until I am on the plane to England! So, if you live in the UK, get ready to have me popping up on your doorstep! (Just kidding, although I will be homestaying in Dublin…hmm…maybe I will be popping up on your doorstep!) I'm so pumped! First time out of the USA! *happy face* Still on the sleep training thing…*yawns* It really sucks sometimes, I'm always so tired…we need to get a keyboard silencer so I can type when everyone else is asleep… Review, Request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien!**_

_**PS: I would share some of my birthday cake with you people, but I need the sugar energy. Sorry.**_


	27. Make Ready for a very Special Guy!

_**Well then. Umm…hi? Sorry, no before info for you guys again, I got nothing! I may not get this out today, because I'm going to one of my best friend's b-day party. My dad set the microwave on fire. Just thought you'd like to know.(literally, I had to put it out) No joke, there was flames and smoke and everything. *sad face, now we might have to buy another one* And do you know what? He wasn't even trying to cook anything. Nope, his newspaper got wet 'cause of the storm last night and he was trying to dry it out. *sweatdrops* I know, right? You know, with this chapter this story is officially the longest I've ever written. (well, Fanfiction, my real book is **__way__** longer) Okay, just read a sad story on another Hellsing author's account, her two best friends committed suicide and her father's got a really bad genetic disease, and isn't expected to live very much longer, and her 14-year old cousin has an unspecified disorder as well, and the only other person with something similar lived to fifteen. So, try to help? If you're Christian or whatever, pray for them, if you're pagan, send healing thoughts, and whatever else you are do what you think might help. Beam whatever positive freaking energy you believe in to her/them. Okay, sad stuff in reality done now; let's move on to the fake sad stuff. (Based off of a Savages, Savages, I'm desperate)**_

_Akuma's POV:_

"You ever get that feeling, when you see a huge wave at the beach, and you're like "crap, I'm gonna get pounded"? I got that right now." DK said, pointing at the orange glow of Kage/Pumpkin King's soul that lit up the sky around us. "It certainly is intimidating." Jack said, calmly shouldering his giant scythe. I gulped and edged away. Lock, Shock, and Barrel all were sitting in front of us, calmly dangling their feet over the edge of the balcony we were waiting on. "Like a pretty sunset of doom." Lock said musingly, blowing on her magic nail polish. "Or a raging fire of destruction." Barrel said meditatively, putting his chin in his hands. "Kaboom thunderbolt." Shock said around a piece of cake he had snatched from the kitchen. We all stared for a moment. "What are you guys all talking about?" Maka said, hoisting Soul impatiently. "That." We all said in unison, pointing to the sky ahead of us.

"Err…I don't see anything." She said uncertainly, looking at us strangly. "That's because you aren't tuned to our family wavelength. We can see any soul that is remotely related to the Nightstalker easily, Soul Protect or not. The Pumpkin King's, or Kage's enlarged soul, is literally covering the sky ahead of us." Jack said, pulling his knife out again and throwing it up, catching it absently. "Umm…isn't that bad?" Patty chirped happily, and we all winced. "On a scale of one to ten, YES." I said, rubbing the back of my head. "How bad?" Blackstar asked excitedly, twirling Tsubaki. "Umm…" I said, glancing at Jack, who had thrown his knife up again. "Very, very, very, _very_, bad." He said, catching it between his fingers. "Let me try." DK said, turning to them. "Okay, so you know how the Reaper's soul is around all of Death City? The soul that's incoming is _bigger_ than that." He said slowly, and they turned white.

I sighed. "Way to break it to them DK. You suck, did I mention that?" He shrugged. "Ah, who cares? We're screwed anyway; I just wanted to make sure they knew how badly." I silently prayed for patience, and then the Witches showed up. "Mabaa, hello." Jack said happily, and she nodded. "Skeleton Jack, Nightstalker." She glared in the direction of the meisters. "DWMA students…" she growled, one remaining eye furious. "Now now, we need as many allies as possible in these dark times. I'm not too happy about it either." Jack said wearily, glaring at them. They had a moment of mutual dislike, and then she said "The sensor spells we put up have gone off. It's coming." Jack nodded as Lock and her brothers got up.

"Alright, listen up. While the Witches throw everything they have at the Pumpkin King, Akuma, Lock's team, and the meisters will attempt to force a Song Resonance with Kage by attacking the Pumpkin King, and we as her family will take care of the rest. If she awakens, we also attack with everything we have. If she does not, we regroup and flee. Clear?" he said, looking all of her friends in the eye. We all nodded. "Right then. Let's get to it." he said abruptly, vaulting over the rail. DK and I were the next, as Lock, Shock, and Barrel darted through the shadows, weaving around us in a dance as Mabaa shot overhead, heading for the spot where she would start the attack with the Witches. Maka and the others quickly ran after us, as Kid activated his skateboard. _Alright, let's dance big sis._

_3__rd__ Person POV:_

The Nightstalker and meisters skidded to a halt, gaping at the scene before them. Kage was standing, arms outstretched and eyes closed, in the exact middle of a crater. Smoking bodies littered it. She turned, and instead of her normal smile a wicked, gaping smirk with snaggly yellow teeth confronted them. "Well well. More souls." She/it/they/him said, turning all the way around and facing them squarely. Jack stepped forward, with DK and Akuma right behind him. "We're here to make an end of you, sir." He said, and he/they/she/it laughed, horribly. "Oh really? Come then. I want to see that." They/he/it/she said mockingly, beckoning. Jack, Akuma, and Lock, Shock, and Barrel took a deep breath, closing their eyes.

"Boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange?" They sang, starting to glow. Maka and the others gasped, caught off guard by the wave of power that flowed into them. _Chill out. This is normal._ Lock's voice said, and they all gaped. _This is…normal!?_ Maka thought, seeing her soul expand. "Come with us and you will see, this, our town of Halloween." They sang, Akuma catching DK and Jack twirling his scythe. Lock flexed her fingers as Barrel stepped forward, his staffs humming through the air. Shock grinned, starting to spark faintly. "This Halloween, this is Halloween." The Pumpkin King grinned, his/her/their/the soul expanding as well. "Pumpkins scream in the dead of night." Jack and the others stepped forward, Maka and her friends an inch behind. "This is Halloween, everybody make a scene, trick or treat till the neighbor's gonna die of fright!"

They all prepared themselves, the meisters calling out their Resonance attacks. "Witch Hunter." Maka said, clenching Soul tighter. "Enchanted Sword Mode." Blackstar grinned, brandishing Tsubaki. "Death Cannon." Kid snarled, bringing Liz and Patty up. The Nightstalker just grinned, readying themselves for the coming battle. "It's our town, everybody scream!" They crouched, getting ready to attack. "In this town of Halloween." There was a flash of movement, and Jack clanged his scythe down on the Pumpkin King's head. Lock slashed down from the sky in a hail of fire daggers, with Shock charging them even more with destructive power. Barrel swung directly at his head as well. "I am the one hiding under you bed!" The Pumpkin King roared, and they all flew back, with none of their attacks even scratching him. Maka and the others blinked and attacked as well. "Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red!" He swerved, and they were blasted off their feet as well.

"I am the one hiding under your stairs, finger like snakes and spiders in my hair." The Nightstalker sang, slowly getting to their feet and attacking again. Maka and the others shook their heads, stunned, and then staggered to their feet as well. "This is Halloween, this is Halloween!" They all darted around him like flies, too fast to swat, hitting him with sharp punishing blows. "Halloween, Halloween! Halloween, Halloween!" Kid aimed Liz and Patty at Kage's form and paused, feeling hesitant. "In this town, we call home, everyone hail to the Pumpkin Soul!" She screamed, and he was blasted off his feet and through a wall, several walls in fact. "In this town, don't we love it now?" Jack sang, slamming her through walls on the opposite side of the crater. "Everybody's waiting for the next surprise!" She staggered out of the hole, scowling. She spit a bit of dark blood of out her mouth and sang "Round that corner man, hiding in the trash can, something's waiting now to pounce and how you'll SCREAM!"

She split apart into thousands of tiny winged pumpkin heads, chomping on the attackers. "Crap, she called out more demons…" DK moaned from Akuma's hand. "Wait, you mean Kage's still around here somewhe-" He was slammed into a pillar. Kage landed on the ground, eyes glowing a dull and angry red. "This is Halloween, red 'n black and slimy green!" She hissed. "Are you scared?" a voice behind her called, and she was blasted into the ground, making an even bigger crater. Jack and Shock high fived each other, grinning. "Well that's just fine! Say it once, say it twice, take a chance and roll the dice!" She said, multiplying. The copies all charged the Nightstalker, leaving the others alone. Kid fired Liz and Patty unflinchingly, biting his lip. "Ride with the moon in the dead of night!" Lock sang, hurling some icy daggers instead of fire ones. "Everybody scream! Everybody scream! In our town of Halloween…" They all sang, gathering around the panting meisters.

"I am the clown with the tear-away face, here in a flash-" The Pumpkin King snarled, hurling Soul Force lightning at them. "-and gone without a trace." The explosion hurled all the humans sky high, impacting the ground with a crunch. "I am the "who" when you call "who's there", I am the wind blowing through your hair!" The Nightstalker snag, wiping the blood off their faces and smirking. "I am the shadow on the moon at night, filling your dreams to the brim with fright!" He roared, shadows exploding off him and writhing towards the humans, but Jack and Akuma deflected them easily. "This is Halloween, This is Halloween. Halloween, Halloween! Halloween, Halloween!" Jack tightened his grip on his wavering black scythe. _Akuma, meisters, now is the endgame._ "Tender lumplings everywhere, life's no fun without a good scare." He and Akuma sang, closing their eyes.

"That's our job but we're not mean, in our town of Halloween." Lock, Shock, and Barrel sang, closing their eyes as well. The Pumpkin King, Kage, jerked, a startled look coming into his/her eyes. "In this town, don't we love it now; everybody's waiting for the next surprise!" Jack and Akuma snarled, as he started to glow orange. "Skeleton Jack might get you in the back, and scream like a banshee make you jump out of your skin!" Lock and her brothers sang, keeping their eyes unblinkingly focused on the slightly floating figure. They wailed, a melding of anger, joy, and pain, and a bright flash of orangish-reddish light snapped away from Kage, taking on a hunched scarecrow-like shape. "This is Halloween, everybody scream, won't you please make ready for a very special guy!" They sang as it writhed, clearing attempting to get back to Kage's body.

"Our man Jack is King of the Pumpkin Patch, everyone hail to the Pumpkin King now!" Kage sang mockingly, summoning, catching, and swinging her black shadow swords. He caught them, looking frantic. "This is Halloween, This is Halloween. Halloween, Halloween! Halloween, Halloween!" The Nightstalker all sang, and even Maka, Blackstar, Kid, and their weapons joined in, at least a little. "In this town, we call home-" They sang, but suddenly a blast threw them all off their feet, including Kage. "EVERYONE HAIL TO THE PUMPKIN SOUL!" Waves of power pounded into the screaming Nightstalker, as Maka and the others watched in horrified awe. "LA, LA, LA, LA-LA-LA, LA, LA, LA, LA-LA-LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA!" He roared, his spirit form stretching tall and proud. They screamed, bucking and writhing, yet still being forced to sing along. The power faded, and he gave a hiss of satisfaction before fading away.

_Kage's POV:_

I wheezed, pain erupting around my body. Blurry faces swarmed around mine, and I heard Akuma say "Crap! He's still going! Jack, Shock, Blackstar, get over here _now_!" He squeezed my hand reassuringly. "Hang on big sis, we got you." I nodded, gasping for air. "What's happening to her!?" Kid's voice said, and I felt a vise grip on my arm. "She overshot. Not only that, but the Pumpkin King wanted to take his revenge on her. Kage, are you ready?" Jack said calmly, and I knew he was drawing back his hand. I nodded, gripping Kid's arm and Akuma's hand. "Soul Force." He said calmly, and burning pain shot thorough my entire body as I screamed and bucked. "Hey, stop! You're hurting her!" Kid said angrily, and Jack sighed, waiting. I stopped fizzling, and the pulling pain began again.

"How much did she overshoot?" Lock said worriedly, dancing on both feet. "It's hard to tell. Maybe a lot, maybe a little. He wanted revenge so he's still taking." Jack said neutrally, hitting me again, harder. Kid snarled with rage and tried to yank free and hit him, but Akuma and Lock managed to hold him down. "Explain…" I croaked weakly, coughing up a little blood. Lock sighed. "Kid, as a consequence of being a Demonmeister, sometimes a demon takes your Soul Wavelength away. Usually they don't take all that much, but when we overshoot it can get deadly. A single Soul Force usual satisfies the demon, as they don't care _whose_ soul their getting, but it still damages the person normally, so we have to be very careful. Kage's overshot way, _way_ too much."

Jack pulled his hand back again. "How many more of these do you think you can survive?" he asked conversationally, and I gulped. "Two, maybe." I whispered, and he nodded. "Better make it count then." He said, raising his hand as Soul Force crackles ran along it. I gripped Akuma's hand so hard his bones creaked, and Kid held onto my arm. Jack hit me hard, and I screamed, blood fountaining out of my mouth as I wailed, Soul Force lightning crackling across my body so much it occasionally blocked out my vision. I bucked and writhed, pain building and building and building, and suddenly stopping. I went limp, coughing up mouthfuls of blood and spitting the sticky red stuff on my shirt. Jack stood up. "She needs medical care before any of us can attempt another purge." He said, pulling out his knife and playing with it. Everyone nodded, and I felt myself being lifted up.

I wheezed in and out, blood still dripping out of mouth, and felt myself being shifted, carried bridal style. I cracked one aching eyelid open to see a metal Grim Reaper symbol staring at me, and my gaze traveled up to a very familiar set of stripes. "I'm…getting blood…all over your…nice clothes…" I weakly muttered, closing my eyes. He chuckled, and I smirked slightly. "You shouldn't even be conscious, let alone worrying about me." He said firmly, shifting his arms a little. "I'm fine." I insisted, sitting up slightly. He snorted. "Don't think I'll buy that." I cursed softly, and then said. "There are seven asymmetrical blood spatters on your clothes." He flinched, trembling with the urge to fix himself, but still walking forward with me, stopping me from dying like anyone with a right mind would. "N-nope." He said weakly, shaking his head rapidly.

I grabbed the back of his head, glaring him in the eyes. "Who are you and what have you done with Kid!?" I hissed, hiding a smirk. "He would totally drop me and fix that! I see through your disguise mister." He looked disgruntled. "I would never drop you!" I raised an eyebrow, and he blushed. "Okay…maybe if you weren't so injured…" he muttered, avoiding my gaze. "Gotcha." I said weakly, letting my head fall back down. He sighed, shaking his head. "What am I going to do with you…" he said to himself, and I sat up again. "Let me fall on the ground and die, like any normal, sane, and quite frankly laws of physics obeying human?" I said hopefully, and he sighed. "Kage, seriously?" I can't think how many people who would be heartbroken if you died." I grinned, hazily thinking it over. "Well, there's me, there's Akuma, DK…going out on a limb there, but whatever, Lock, Shock, Barrel, and, umm…"

"And me." He said softly, looking at me with molten yellow eyes. I felt hot all over, and wiggled, feeling uncomfortable. "Uh, yeah, I guess. But since you're a Reaper I thought it might be rude to include you without asking fir-" His lips met mine, and my mind went blank as heat flared through my body again. Unconsciously my arms slid around his neck, burying my hands in his soft asymmetrical hair. He stopped, leaning against a wall. A hiss of rage made him jerk away as I winced, seeing Akuma being held back by Lock, and Shock and Barrel being restrained by Jack, whose eye was twitching. "I WILL FREAKING PANUZERFAUST YOU!" Akuma, or it actually probably was DK, roared, swinging out the huge grenade launcher as he said it. There was a cha-click, and Jack held out a hand, looking like he very much wanted to have fired the explosive himself. "No artillery."

DK growled in frustration, chucking the loaded panzerfaust out the window, and there was another huge explosion below us, making him whistle innocently, edging away from it. Kid blushed, and I let go of his neck. "Umm…" he said, shifting guiltily. "Yeah, umm…" I said, my head falling back again, as I frantically tried to think of an excuse. "Trick of the light?" I tried, popping my head back up again. Lock snickered, before rapidly straightening her face seriously as Jack whipped around. Shock and Barrel coughed, hiding smirks. Akuma had now switched places with Jack, and his eye was twitching as Jack was being restrained by Shock, Lock, _and_ Barrel, since he was bigger. "I stall them, you run." Lock said apologetically, and we took her advice. "That was embarrassing." I coughed as Kid set me back down on my very own hospital bed, since I had been grievously injured so often Stein just gave up and put my name on one.

"It was rather degrading for your family to see your first kiss." He said, hands behind his back and blushing. "Nah, that ain't my first. There was that one party, remember?" I said, lifting my head up slightly. He blushed even redder. "That was a complete and total accident." I sighed. "So you want it in bold. That was my first kiss that I actively participated in and enjoyed, happy? Yeesh, you're like DK, always wanting the exact." He blushed so red I thought he was going to collapse. "Err, right, anyway-" Stein burst in the room. "Hey, I'm not that injured _this_ time." I said grumpily, and he shook his head. "Not that. Medusa has come back, and she wants to strike a bargain." We both turned pale.

_Jack's POV:  
_ Lock, the traitor, had given Kage and the Reaper a chance to escape, which I thoroughly berated her for the next five minutes it took to get to the Death Room. We opened the door, seeing the snake witch, although she was much, _much_ younger. "What do you want this time?" I snapped, and she smiled sweetly at me. "I have a deal for both you and the Reaper. You both want to kill certain Kishins, and I can help you with that. Well? What do you say?" I clenched my teeth, not answering. "How so?" She smirked. "Would someone capable of binding him forever do?" she asked mockingly, leaning back on her tail snakes. Kage and the Reaper's son were instantly forgotten in all our minds, whirling with the possibilities.

_**I was about halfway through the chapter, and I was like "wait, would Medusa be sitting around just watching this Nightstalker stuff?" Nein! I think not! So, that's why that is in there. I haven't done much with Free-type characters, so I'm giving him a whirl. I thought the nice kissy scene would help you all forgive me for missing yesterday, sorry. My chapter output will be a bit sputtery this week, because I'm getting ready for the U.K., which is next, no, **__this__** freaking Friday! Damn, time flies…kinda funny how overprotective and spazzy her family is, isn't it? Luckily, Kid has escaped un-panzerfausted, thus far. DK can be a bit trigger happy. If you have no idea what a panzerfaust is, Google images. I have even spelled it right, so you can just copy-paste it. And there is but one word that describes it. KABOOOOOOOMMM! XD Sorry, I'm a bit trigger happy too. Oh, Guest person reviewed. Thank you, person who does not have an account on Fanfiction but was still nice enough to leave me a message. Now then, no slacking, I have only six days left in the USA before I'm shoved on a plane and dumped on the bright and sunny shores of Europe(and yes, I know it rains a lot in the UK, I was just testing). Leave me plenty of Reviews! I won't be posting in the mornings, because the keyboard wakes my parents up. (found that one out to my cost) So I have about four hours less to write, which is really annoying, and now I actually have stuff **__other__** than Fanfiction to do! *sigh* Yeah, I'll explain the part about why certain demon #*%+&^#= 's are still alive next chapter. Review, Request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien!**_


	28. Grand Market

_**Well, I suppose I better have a "wrap up" chapter before I leave…*yawns* Sleep deprivation setting in…mind getting foggy…losing story drive…shutting down. *thunk* Wefis;ioducn wefp wiefwebufawe awewg quifoweirufnvxcklv'xdtfkbn . *Snorts and gets up* Sorry guys, but I'm really losing it, I actually did fall asleep on the keyboard a few times today. I'm being forced to eat sugar to keep myself awake, since I hate coffee and I don't know any other things that have caffeine in them. Geez… but England will be much better, because I won't be forced to be active during what my body considers the middle of the night. (helpful hint, six hours ahead, so afternoon is eight to midnightish) So my body is being very confused because my parents took us on this nature hike thing, and I could practically hear my brain shouting "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING UP!?" to which I replied "No clue." Yeah, kinda sucks to be me right now. *yawns again* So then, wrap-up chapter…I'll read the last ten chapters and kinda do a top-off, just to satisfy you people until I get back. I'll make it as long as possible! (Making Xmas AMV)**_

_Kage's POV:_

"So, why are we here again?" Blackstar said, tapping a foot impatiently. "It's our birthday, and we wanna take you guys to the Grand Market." I said, humming to myself. "What's that?" Maka asked, looking around at all the crumbling buildings. "Think of it as the biggest indoor market for the denizens of the magical underworld for several hundred years." DK said impassively, yawning. "So it's a mall?" Liz said, perking up. I seesawed my hand. "Kinda. There aren't any actual stores, just stalls. There are also a couple big bunkhouses for the stall owners and overnighters." Akuma shook his head, snapping his fingers. "Just remembered. Guys, no attacking anybody here, witches or otherwise, even if it's Asura himself, this is a neutral zone. You'll get us all torn apart."

"You actually think the Kishin would come _here_?" Kid said skeptically, and we both shrugged. "Hey, everything and anything for everyone and anyone. That's an attractive prospect, and there's something else. They got guardians, and wards. It is actually impossible to use magic, and meisters and weapons can't resonate. Basically, once you step inside, no matter whom or what you are, you only have the abilities a human has, no Soul Force, no transforming, and no nothing otherwise. That way, neutrality is reinforced, because most of the people who would normally be looking for trouble are helpless, and human thugs can't even get in. However, if someone does try to attack someone else, after everyone knows who started it they mob 'em. Basically, if say, Blackstar attacked a witch, everyone in the building would attack you all at once and we'd be helpless to stop them. Get it? No fights." I said, looking sternly at the aggressive meister. He sighed and nodded.

We walked up to the huge brick warehouse, and the guard in the sunglasses who always stood in front of the huge metal doors bared his teeth. "Business and group." He said firmly, holding out a hand. "Kage and Akuma, Nightstalker and stall holders, Maka, Blackstar, and Death the Kid meisters, first timers, and Liz, Patty, Tsubaki, and Soul weapons, also first timers." Akuma fired off, and my answer came hard on his heels. "Window shopping and possible purchasing of weapon-meister related objects. No overnighting." He nodded, leaning forward and sniffing each of us in turn. "Proceed and remember the rules." He growled, glaring at the others. They all gulped and we stepped in, and me and Akuma waited a moment to let the full impact shine through. "Magnificent, isn't it?" DK said, smirking.

They nodded dumbly, seeing brightly colored stalls stretch out far beyond the confines of a mere warehouse. People in strange outfits bought even stranger items, and a throng of languages pulsed up into the air. "Whoa…" Soul said softly, and Patty giggled. "Yup, welcome to the Grand Market, home of pretty much any kind of item you might want to buy. Be free!" Akuma chuckled, already starting to move forward. The others all shuffled their feet, and I laughed. "Oh c'mon, nobody's gonna attack you here. Shoo!" I said, making flapping motions with my hands. They all slowly floated into the crowd, inspecting the items in the stalls as they kept an eye on their partner out of habit. Akuma and/or DK headed for their favorite spot, the gun depot.

I hooked my arm through Kid's when all the others were gone, and he twitched. I smiled at him shyly. "Well, you do owe me another date." I said, looking down, and he chuckled and wrapped his arm around my waist. "So where's your favorite spot?" he asked me, and I brightened. "Oh yeah, c'mon!" I said excitedly, tugging him in the opposite direction of DK and Akuma, because quite frankly I wanted to be uninterrupted for the next couple hours.

_Multiple POV's:_

"I sense a fishy aura." DK said abruptly, and I twitched. "What? Who?" I asked, and he frowned, putting down the machine gun we had been looking at. "The Reaper and Kage are all by themselves." Our eyes twitched, or whatever. Being in the same body was kinda hard to describe. I clenched my hands, inhaling an exhaling slowly. "You know, we're looking at this all wrong." I said as DK began moving us towards the location of Kage and Kid's souls rapidly. "Yeah?" He asked, and I shrugged. "They both seem pretty serious about this. Think about what Kage might do to us if we interrupt her when she doesn't want us to." He skidded to a stop. "Uh…yeah…I suppose we don't _really_ know if that's them over there." He said, backpedaling. "And besides, she could do worse." He muttered, tossing a coin at a shopkeeper and swallowing one of her raw mice. I choked, feeling the fur and gunk slide down my throat. "Dude…" I coughed. "…you have to remember I'm in here too…"

He shrugged. "Meh, when you're dead everything starts to taste good. But these are kinda an acquired taste…mmm, spicy." He reached for another tray, and I didn't even want to know what was on it. It had a lot of legs and a lot of slime. "DK, no." I said, quickly backing away. He sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "But normal food here sucks…" he whined as I headed for a burger stand. "Don't care, I'm hungry and I'm not eating whatever the hell that stuff was." I said, buying a cheeseburger and taking a huge bite. DK gagged, and I swallowed it _again_. "How can you even stomach this junk…" he moaned, holding his stomach. "We're going to have a hard time eating…" I sighed, leaning against a lamppost.

"Wow…" I said, seeing a whole _street_ full of books. I happily delved in, seeing Soul talking to a man on the corner about his bike care. "What's this about?" I asked, picking up a book with a black cover and swirly orange markings. The woman clicked her glasses, and then shrugged. "That's a rare subject. Shadow magic. Literally, not the dark mage drivel that's cornering the market these days." I blinked. "I have a friend who's a shadow witch. How much is this?" She shrugged again, then named her price. It was a bit high, but then again, this was a rare book. "Hey Soul, I got Kage her birthday present!" I said excitedly, holding it up in the air as I met up with him again. "Yeah, same here." He said, gesturing to a bike behind him. It was black and sleek, obviously meant for speed. "She'll love it!" I said, beaming, and he grinned. "She better, that was all my saving money."

"How about this one?" I asked, shoving it under Tsubaki's nose. She flinched, then gingerly put it back. "Blackstar, we've been over this. Kage doesn't want autographs, she wants something nice. Something like this." She held up her present, a picture of all of us at a basketball game, me being the center focus, obviously. I studied it. "Well then, I'll get an autograph book signed by all of us. Mine is the biggest, of course." I snorted, chucking some money at the old dude and grabbing a black book. "Blackstar, that's…actually a good idea." She admitted, blinking. I quickly signed it, then shoved the book at her. "Now you." She pulled a pen out and neatly wrote her name in. "Now let's get some food I'm hungry!" I shouted, running off to the smell of burgers.

"What about this?" Patty asked, shoving a giraffe under my nose. "No Patty, we need something Kage'll like. Oh, here's some clothing." I said, my face lighting up. "Oh, this is cool." There was a jacket like the one Kage was always wearing, but she probably didn't want another one. Beside it was a black tank top, with the words _"Mess with me and you die."_ written across it in spiky orange letters. "That one." I said, pointing at it and giving the guy some money. He nodded, wrapping it up. "Oh, shiny!" Patty cooed, grabbing some knee-high boots. "No Patty those are too big for you…hey wait mister, how much are those?" I asked, seeing they were just Kage's size. I coughed up the money and added it to our bag, shopping for Kage all done. I quickly counted out what we had left, and grinned. "C'mon Patty, let's shop!" I shouted, dragging her back into the forest of outfits.

_Kage's POV:_

"Go on, I dare you." A man said, nudging Kid. He gulped, one eye twitching. "Do it!" another shouted, and the crowd picked up the chant. "Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it!" I smirked at him. "If DK and Akuma are anywhere around, they would have said something by now. Make them shut up already." I groaned, covering my ears with my hands. He flushed and gently tugged on the edge of my jacket. I easily slid out of it, and the crowd whistled approvingly. "Why are we doing this again?" he whispered, staring at his feet and turning red. "They said they'd pay us a large amount of money and they meant it. C'mon, it's just my jacket. I still have a top on." I said teasingly, folding my arms.

We had been strolling around, and a couple of people had mockingly asked Kid and me to start making out. We both refused, and they upped the stakes, saying if Kid could take my top off they'd give us a thousand dollars each, and pulled out the money then and there. So we had been sat down and then a crowd started gathering…long story short, we were now surrounded by a bunch of adults all making wolf-whistles and urging Kid on. "I can't do it." he whispered, and I smirked. "Kid, I'll still be decent. Trust me, we'll cheat 'em of their fun." He flushed brighter, but shakingly removed my top, so in ordinary circumstances I'd have nothing but my bra on. And I did, but then my shadow slid up my body to cover me, a loose blot of inky darkness hovering around my torso.

There was a collective "Aww" of frustration, and Kid peeked up at me. I grinned at him, reaching out of the cloud for my jacket and top. "See, completely decent, and now we have a whole heck of a lot more money than before." I said, yanking my tank top on and tying my jacket around my waist. The men scowled as they handed over the money, but a deal was a deal and my top had come off. I pocketed it, hooking my arm through Kid's again and waltzing back out of the building. "What time is it?" I asked him, glancing around for a clock. "Umm…three, I think." He said, squinting in remembrance. "Crap, we gotta go see the others!" I yelped, grabbing his arm and sprinting away. A few moments later we had all met up at a lunch area, with the others all bearing mysteriously birthday-present looking packages.

Blackstar, of course, had to go first. "Here! This'll be the best present you ever received, because it came from me, Blackstar!" I nodded absently, opening it to see an autograph book with his signature, but as I flipped through it I saw Tsubaki's, Maka's, Soul's, everyone's. Even Kid's. "Thanks Blackstar. I'll keep this somewhere safe." I told him, giving him a thumbs up. He beamed at me, returning the gesture. I opened Tsubaki's next. "Aww, thanks guys." I said softly, pocketing both of the gifts. "Me next!" Patty shouted, shoving a bag into my lap. I opened it, seeing some new leather boots. "Cool." I said, yanking off the old ones and slipping them on. I took an aggressive stance, kicking over Akuma's head experimentally. "I like these." I said, resting both feet back to the ground. Liz and Patty high-fived each other, and I pulled out a new tank top. "Hmm…sweet." I said, summoning a shadow cloud and changing.

Maka edged forward, handing me, no surprise, a book. I flicked it open, grinning when I saw all the new spells I could try. "Thanks." I said absently, already itching to try these things out. They all jumped as the bell clanged overhead, but Akuma and I didn't even flinch. "Wonder who wants us now?" I asked, looking up. They all glanced at us. "Someone rang the bell on our table 'cause they wanted to talk to us. We nod if we want to talk as well." I said, and nodded slowly with Akuma. I saw a large man with a ball and chain attached to his foot walk up to us, and raised my eyebrows, along with Akuma. "You're that werewolf with Medusa, aren't you?" I asked slowly, and he nodded. "Yeah, that's me. You Kage and Akuma?" We nodded. Maka and the others stiffened up, reaching for each other subtly. "No fighting." I said out of the corner of my mouth, and they flinched, looking guilty.

"Medusa sent me to talk to you two. Said something about binding a pumpkin guy?" he said, collapsing in a chair across from us and rubbing a hand across his forehead. We nodded again. "You're an expert in Spatial Magic, we need that to actually bind him properly. Much as it pains me to say, we don't currently have someone with your ability in our ranks. While we managed to remove him from my body and weaken him greatly, he's still alive and dangerous. We need you to bind him after we weaken him enough for him to die, because killing him would be a very bad thing, despite his obvious aggressive stance. We need his power to remain Nightstalker." I said in a businesslike tone, steepling my hands. Akuma nodded. "Yeah, he's real tough to kill anyway. If we accidentally do, it'll be pretty bad, but not all that bad. Better than having him alive." He said neutrally, leaning back and folding his hands behind his head. "Umm…guys, are you seriously trusting _Medusa_?" Maka growled, one eye twitching. We both shrugged. "Meh, with the Pumpkin King you need all the help you can get." DK said, yawning and looking at his nails.

"So we need to go back to the DWMA, like right now." I said, standing up and dusting myself off. Akuma did the same. "Hey wait." Soul called, and I turned. He tossed a set of keys to me and winked. "Black one." I grinned and darted out, seeing a sweet black bike leaning against the railing, and turned the keys, hearing the ignition rumble to life and turn into a humming purr. I felt someone tap my shoulder, and turned to see Kid. "Going to leave without saying goodbye again?" he asked softly, and my smile dropped. "Uh, well…you didn't get me a birthday present." I said firmly, putting both hands on my hips. He smiled slightly. "I was hoping to wait until Akuma and DK weren't around, but I suppose I have to give it to you now." He said, wrapping his arms around my waist. I grinned. "I suppose." I whispered, sliding my arms around his neck.

He kissed me, bending me over my new bike, and I kissed him back, winding my fingers through his hair and rubbing the back of his neck gently. I heard a choking sound and then the familiar click of a rifle cocking and quickly switched positions, putting my back to the people watching us. I heard a muffled curse "C'mon Kage move over! I need to shoot him!" I freed one hand and waved it at them in a shooing motion, then Kid reclaimed it, tugging it back down to his hair. We broke apart for air, and he whispered "Happy birthday Kage." I grinned at him. "Goodbye Kid." I returned, hugging him tightly and letting him summon Beelzebub and zoom off as I waved. I turned, seeing Akuma/DK aiming an anti-aircraft cannon at Kid's retreating figure, and Free staring at me. "Uh…you two seeing each other then?" he asked, scratching the back of his head.

"Not if we have anything to say about it!" DK/Akuma shouted, switching the safety off. I walked over and shoved the cannon down, aiming it at my chest, and they dropped it, scowling at me. "Akuma," I said, seeing his eye fade back to green. "If you harm him I will…" I muttered my threat in his ear, and he whimpered, clapping a hand over his mouth. His right eye turned back to DK's color. "You wouldn't…" he whispered, horrified. I grinned at them. "I damn well _will_ if you try to hurt him again." I said, slinging a leg over my bike and gunning the engine. "What'd she say?" Free asked, scampering after us as Akuma jumped on and we roared off. "You don't. Want. To. Know." DK muttered, eye staring vacantly at the air in front of him. Akuma nodded numbly.

_**So then…*yawns* That's all I could think up that wasn't a horribly mean cliffy. I mean, I'm not going to be updating for 19 days at the very least. Since I discovered this site I haven't not posted for more than two days. (I haven't updated this, but I managed to finish some more oneshots for my Hellsing fanfic) That would be 19 **__days__** without any updates. That's too cruel, even for me. So this was a filler chapter, a nice little tie-up whilst I'm gone. (Yeah, that's a word. "whilst" Google it) Now I'm less sleep deprived because I accidentally slept in till 11:00 AM. Yeah, big sleep schedule oops. Oh well, I'll fix it somehow…*sighs* So then, this is the last word coming from me until the 16 of July. Hi! Hehe, sorry, couldn't help it. My dad's putting up the pool right now, so hopefully I can swim when I come back. What sucks, I think, most about this trip, is I'm missing the Fourth of July. Yeah, no pyromaniac displays this year…*sniffles* Oh well, maybe my sister will save me some smoke bombs or something. (love those things!) Interesting trick you can do, put them under a bucket or something, then light them and wait a second, and when you pull it up there's like this cool effect…you'll have to try it to find out. Leave me plenty of reviews for when I come back! Also as a recap, I'll be going to England, Wales, Scotland, and both sides or parts of Ireland. See you there! (I believe there are twenty-two people who have looked at this who live in the UK and Ireland) Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien! Catsvrsdogscatswin over and out!**_


	29. Everybody Scream!

_**I'm back baby! WHOOHOOO! I am so pumped to be back home where I can write n' stuff. *hugs computer and keyboard* I've missed you my precious electronics…*lets go* Yeah, I actually did that when I came home. Well, I'll just start making up for my absence, shall I? Do remember that Akuma and DK are still the same body/person thing, but I'll be describing it like they're different people for cohesiveness. (Based off of a Revenge AMV) Also, may I remind people if you know the songs or seen the AMVs then you get a hint to what the chapter has in it. Just saying…**_

_Kage's POV:_

I skidded to a halt; dust showering out from the tires of what I was fairly certain was turning out to be my favorite possession on earth. The powerful engine rumbled to a stop, and I yanked the helmet off, dissolving it into shadows. Akuma and DK jumped off. "Long drives make my back itch…" Akuma yawned, and a shadow popped free of the ground, scratching him. "Much better." DK sighed, shaking his head. "Right, so where's the spot we need?" Free bounded past us, skidding to a stop, but still running into a tree. We all sweatdropped. "That really raises confidence, doesn't it? I feel better already." DK said, facepalming. Free popped back up, glaring at him. "That's a fast bike. Where'd you get it?" he asked, striding over and crouching. "NO! Don't touch my baby!" I wailed, covering as much as I could with my arms. He raised an eyebrow.

"Birthday present at the Grand Market." I said, shrugging and letting go with a smirk. He sighed, shaking his head. "You aren't exactly helping my confidence either." He muttered as we stalked off, DK making pretend outraged faces all the way. There was a lot of sticky, hot, humid greenness and wetness and general junglyness about us, and we were already sweating despite our aptitude for temperature adjustment. Free was soaked already, but we were just damp by our hair and clothes, if that gives you an indication. "Frick I hate jungles. Too much things trying to eat you." DK said, scratching his insect bites. "Knock it off that makes it itch more!" Akuma yelped, writhing. DK coughed sheepishly. "Hehe. Well to be fair, I haven't had a material body for about four, five hundred years. You forget these things." He said grandly, nose in the air.

He promptly tripped over a tree root, smashed his face on a turtle's shell, and got clobbered by the panther trying to crack the shell open, sending him flying onto a viper. I staggered, laughing wildly as he cursed and staggered upright a few minutes later, bitten and bruised just about everywhere. "I…_loath_…the…jungle…" he snarled, Soul Forcing his way towards the cave we were heading for, trees and animals flying in his wake. Free stared. "If that wasn't partly my brother I totally would have helped." I said, pushing past him. He blinked and started following us, keeping a healthy distance from DK and Akuma. We came out, and DK and I whistled in unison. There was a huge crowd of Nightstalker (a minority, since we were pretty much decimated by Medusa), Kishin and Witches, all waiting on pillar things that would help Free power the cage for the Pumpkin King. Three stands were open. One for me. One for Akuma and DK. And one for Jack. Ours were in a triangle, Jack's at the point the Pumpkin King would materialize.

I gulped, the sheer, stupid, reckless idea of this hitting me hard. The Witches had all learned the song. We would all begin at the same instant. The Pumpkin King would appear by Jack, and if nobody faltered even a hairsbreadth of a second, it was theoretically possible he might be weak enough to hopefully be bound there forever. If Free didn't mess up. _Oh god we're dead we're dead we're so dead I'll never get to hug Kid again and we are so freaking dead dead people don't even know how much more deader than they are we're are right now-_ DK smacked the back of my head. "Our confidence levels are low enough as it is, stop thinking that." He hissed, and I nodded numbly.

We jumped down, and Jack nodded towards our circles. We both stepped in, and Akuma gave me an encouraging smile. We could do this. We'd actually beaten the Pumpkin king before, we could do this. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Jack stood in his circle, and Free stared hard at the spot the Pumpkin king was supposed to appear, waiting. He raised his hands, snapping his fingers once, twice, again. My heart thudded harder with every snap, and I was sure everyone else's' were doing the same. "Boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange?" we sang, power exploding out from the true Nightstalker and blending seamlessly with the Witches and Kishins' power surges. Glowing orange lines raced across the stony ground, zigzagging crazily and seeming to meet by chance, forming strange and disturbing symbols, connecting the pillars. Orange light enveloped us in a cylinder, and I felt a sudden lack of energy. That was expected. Nightstalker practically hummed with power, and it was draining away to power the summons and Free.

"Come with us and you will see, this, our town of Halloween…" Wow. This was incredible. So many voices. So much power. The air shook and vibrated, and my bones were aching now. "This is Halloween, this is Halloween, Pumpkins scream in the dead of night." Suddenly a whole section of the pillars was enveloped in a shadowy mass, screeching, glowing, _flying_ pumpkin heads soaring out and smashing against the ground. The people there closed their eyes, but the heads didn't attack them. "This is Halloween, everybody make a scene, trick or treat 'till the neighbor's gonna die of fright!" WHOOM. A blast of sound make the edges of the cave crumble, orange light slamming into the sky like a giant signal flare. As it probably was. "It's our town, everybody scream! In this town of Halloween…" Shadows reared above our heads, silent threats. "I am the one hiding under your bed, teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red!" a towering shadow formed glowing red eyes, morphing into the Pumpkin King, only it's shoulders were level with the cave entrance. It grinned, sharp white teeth flashing against a pitch black mouth.

"I am the one hiding under your stairs, fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair…" Coiling shadows weaved between pillars, and we felt an overwhelming urge to inch away, to get up high where they couldn't reach us. I fidgeted, inhaling and exhaling evenly. "This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween! Halloween, Halloween!" We roared, the shadow creatures stomping and fighting. "In this town, we call home, everyone hail to the pumpkin Soul!" They screeched, writhing in and out of existence, and I was quite frankly surprised we were still going, nobody had backed out yet. That was probably because they were warned if we went out of the circles; the creatures would immediately turn on them. "In this town, don't we love it now; everybody's waiting for the next surprise!"

Bright orange lines on the ground, shadowy figures in the sky, and in the middle? Oh yeah. Skeletons. Skeleton ghosts, skeleton shadows, actual skeletons, it was a variable cornucopia of skeleton creatures. That probably wasn't good. "Round that corner man, hiding in the trash can, something's waiting now to pounce and how you'll SCREAM!" we called, and suddenly it all meshed into a writhing, cackling, roaring mass, making several people wail. We kept at it though. "This is Halloween, red n' black and slimy green, aren't you scared?" It imploded outwards, black and orange guts splattering across our walls of light. "Well that's just fine! Say it once, say it twice, take a chance and roll the dice, ride with the moon in the dead of night!" Oh. Now it looked like somebody had cast a veritable army of Mirror Images, all mocking us, fighting each other and looking graphically violent.

"Everybody scream! Everybody scream! In our town of Halloween…" they screeched upwards, blending into one long column of shadow that twisted and blew apart. I wished I had a camera for this. "I am the clown with the tear-away face, here in a flash and gone without a trace!" I glimpsed Jack through the roiling shadows, and he was staring straight at me, smirking. Something icy slithered down my back, a chill spreading down to my already numb feet. All my types of energy were dropping rapidly, my body actually starting to conserve heat as my warmth was drained away. I flicked a glance at Akuma, who was shivering uncontrollably. Something wasn't right. "I am the "who" when you call "who's there", I am the wind blowing through your hair!" Shadows fractured and split, heaving and convulsing. "I am the shadow on the moon at night, filling your dreams to the grim with fright!"

A huge, gigantic, shadow-King roared from the mass, tossing his head to the sky as his back arched and screeching, black pumpkins swarming from his gaping mouth, silhouetting themselves against the now-eclipsed moon. "This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween! Halloween, Halloween!" we screamed, and suddenly it was all gone, only the glowing orange lines still there. "Tender lumplings everywhere, life's no fun without a good scare…" We sang, and I saw something happening. The people farthest away from me were drooping, heads lolling as their eyes closed. The power coming from them cut off, but the orange lines remained. The sudden stopping of movement was spreading, straight towards us. "That's our job but we're not mean, in our town of Halloween." I said, turning back to Jack. My mouth fell open. The Pumpkin King was standing over him, glowing eyes fixed on us. Jack's eyes were open, glaring at us smugly in triumph.

"In this town, don't we love it now; everybody's waiting for the next surprise!" The few left standing continued, and he raised his arms. "Skeleton Jack might get you in the back, and scream like a banshee make you jump out of your skin!" I wailed, agony scorching through me, both furious and confused. "This is Halloween, everybody scream, won't you please make ready for a very special guy!" He sang, and I realized everyone but me and Akuma were unconscious, or whatever he did to them. "Our man Jack is King of the Pumpkin Patch, everyone hail to the Pumpkin King now!" he shouted, flipping out of his circle as our jaws sagged. What the hell? The pumpkin king roared in rage, reaching for him, but was cut off by the orange light surrounding him.

"This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween! Halloween, Halloween!" he called, and snapped his fingers at Free. He hurriedly stepped forward, and green lines encircled the Pumpkin King. It formed a round cage, and Free locked it. He stepped away, and Jack sauntered over to us. "In this town, we call home…" he crooned, eyes never leaving mine, rage burning deep within them. "EVERYONE HAIL TO THE PUMPKIN SOUL!" I screamed, feeling more and more like I was being torn apart as he sang. "LA, LA, LA, LA-LA-LA, LA, LA, LA, LA-LA-LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA!" Everything went black and all I saw was his familiar slasher smile.

_Jack's POV:_

The werewolf cracked his neck and walked over, seeing the others all spinning gently in their prisons. Kage was in the one before me, eyes rolled up in her head, black lines spreading and fading on her skin. I grinned. Nothing had given me more satisfaction in years. "What'd you do?" he asked, putting a finger to the orange wall of light. It crackled and he yanked his hand back, hissing in pain. "A little something I've been working on. Ever since I banished them, I wanted to make them pay. I couldn't kill them, they were too slippery. And that Kishin…" he flicked a glance over his shoulder at the orange cone that held his god, no more than a shadowy smear now. "He was always wanting to get out and do other things. Those two needed to be punished. He couldn't stop me from punishing them. So I tricked them. I tricked them all." I said absently, relishing her grimace of pain.

"They were so eager to redeem themselves, it was pathetic. They actually _trusted_ me, a little. Fools." The man nodded. "Yeah, but what _is_ that? It's like no Spatial Magic I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot." I shrugged, moving to the brother. He was more peaceful, head bowed, almost looking bored. "It's a battery. Without revealing someone's plans to you fully, they intend to use it. The power feeds off of the prisoner, so the stronger the person, the stronger the prison. If one person is freed, the power will redirect to all the others, strengthening theirs. When it is used, their entire essence, their self, if you will, will be sucked up in a pure energy form, along with the soul." He scratched his head. "So basically it dissolves you and uses you as a battery?" I nodded. "That is the principal. Of course, there's more. They may die before it is used." He blinked. "Huh?"

I gestured lazily to Kage. "The Nightstalker will most likely be the first to go. The spell breaks apart and sucks up a person constantly, so regenerative, powerful creatures such as us are not only in constant, agonizing pain, but are slowly being unmade. The weaker ones are just broken up after a short period, but the strong ones feed the battery beyond their normal ability. It sucks the regeneration powers away, the soul away, the mind away, the self away, bit by bit." He edged away from the cages, gulping. "Uh, yeah, right. See you then." He turned and bounded away, and I let him go. A shadowy snake slithered up to my feet. "Yes?"

Medusa laughed through her creation. "You were successful?" I smirked. "All bound, ready and waiting for Arachne to use. Does she have a backup socket? This is enough power to blow even that fuse." She chuckled darkly, and the snake wiggled. "If there isn't, there will be. Good job. I needed those two brats out of my way." I nodded, walking away. The snake slithered back to the hole where it had crawled from. All was silent, except for the gentle humming of the battery cages as the prisoners' souls were slowly sucked away.

_**I'm sorry, but I had to do a cliffy. I get another one out tomorrow, quit your whining. I was like suffering cliffy withdrawal. I've done one like every other chapter until now and I had 19 days with no opportunity to make you guys squirm in impatience. I missed it. *grins* Yeah…well did you honestly expect him to be like "oh, I'm all panicked and sad and I need you guys to help and I'll seriously forget my creepy and obsessive revenge schemes, and stop being fanatical about you guys killing my girlfriend" *snorts* Nope. Not happening with **__that__** guy. He's too weird. Yes, everything turns out alright. That's my style. I do something nasty to them when they were younger, then try to kill them for most of the fanfic, and then all of a sudden everything's full of sunshine and rainbows and puppies (being BURNED. I hate dogs) and kitties (who are roasting the puppies) and they all have a happy ending. It's how I roll. I think I'm somewhere in Season 3 now but I'm closing in on the fourth one…dang, I liked this fanfic. *sad face* Twenty-nine chapters, longest fanfic I have written to date. Well,whatever. Review, Request, Rcomment, and Auf Wedersin!**_


	30. Hurt, but no Comfort

_**Well, I better hurry up before you all try to kill me. (Based off of a Where's my Angel AMV)**_

_Death the Kid's POV:_

I fidgeted. Kage was late. She had sent me the keys to her and the other's apartment in a letter before she left with Free, telling me to please take care of it until she got back. I had meticulously cleaned every day after school, keeping things exactly as they left them, not even fixing all their asymmetrical belongings. In doing so, I found out a lot about Kage and her brother. She liked books that had comrades fighting and dying for each other, and underdogs going against incredible odds and coming out on top. She had a photo album of her and Akuma, with so many pictures I stayed overnight to look at them all. They showed her and him having fun, laughing, eating ice cream, going on rides, all sorts of things normal people would do. They had captions in Kage's neat handwriting, and the one where she was eating a strawberry ice cream and Akuma was having chocolate said "_Australia, Prisoner Camp 23._" The one where she and Akuma had their arms around each other said "_After defeating our 99__th__ Kishin for Akuma._"

So even though all of them were happy pictures, the stories behind them were not. More than once I had to wipe a tear away before it stained the pristine white pages. The last one was a picture of us together, her head on my chest and my arms around her. We were both smiling, and I recognized the background as the Grand Market on our second date. Her precise letters spelled out "_My first boyfriend Kid on our second date._" It had a page all to itself, and a tab that showed she looked at it often. I had quickly put it away, feeling touched. I read her diary, despite my conscious yelling at me for doing so.

"_Kid's a little nervous about Jack being here. During a basketball game earlier today he asked me if I was alright with it, and I lied and said I was fine. He's so sweet sometimes; I wish I could show I liked him. But the poor guy's gonna be in enough trouble being Lord Death's son, liking me would be adding a whole __**heap**__ more trouble on him, and I don't want that. But I think it's happening anyway, because we lost the game and now he has to go out with me. Just once and I and so want it to not end badly. With my luck he's going to be assassinated by a whole bunch of relatives._

_Actually, it ended rather well. He took me to DeathBucks and we had some coffee, but he started asking questions and I kinda blanked out for a second about…you know…But he was so sorry about it, and actually kinda hugged me! I was so shocked, but it felt really good…I had almost forgotten what a hug felt like. We kinda shrugged it off and started chatting, and we had to move because Akuma and some of the others were watching. We planned to hug again just to freak them out on my doorstep, and it was so funny feeling Akuma's reaction. Then Kid kinda pulled away and kissed my forehead! He said he meant it, and I believe him. It just seemed like one of those things, you know? Then he walked away."_

I blushed. I remembered that too. Her skin was very warm and soft. Her hair tickled me a little. I looked up, putting the book back down, carefully tilting it to the angle I found it at. Her favorite color was a deep purple. Her most desperate wish was to have a cat, a nice cat that wasn't able to transform or anything, just a pet. Her favorite food was spaghetti. Her favorite perfume that she never used was a mix of pomegranate and heather. I missed her so much. It had been…what? A week? Two? I lost track. Neither her nor Jack had returned yet, and worry was still churning in my gut. No matter how busy Kage was, she would have sent something. She would manage. She would always manage what seemed impossible.

Suddenly the mirror above the kitchen table glowed, and I looked up. "Father?" I asked, my heart soaring. Was she back!? "Yes, hello Kid. There's...I have some bad news…" he said slowly, face sad, and I froze. "WHAT!?" I whispered harshly, heart pounding. "It's…it's about Kage. Come to the Death Room and I'll tell you the whole thing." I nodded, bolting for the door and locking it behind me. I summoned Beelzebub as soon as I slammed the front door open, jumping on and roaring off blindly, weaving through the buildings by memory alone. I dropped, skidding to a halt and streaking into the DWMA, ignoring other people's stares and shouts. I slammed the door open, panting, seeing father, Maka, Soul, Blackstar, Tsubaki, Liz, Patty, and…JACK… all standing on the platform.

"Ah, yes. Well then, let's get started." Jack said, putting his hands behind his back. "I've come back to tell you that yes, our mission was successful. The Pumpkin King is bound." He paused, and I felt like strangling him. "However…the energy required…" his face was shadowed. "All the other people attempting to bind him died. The power overloaded them and sealed him further, but it still destroyed them utterly. I barely survived, along with the werewolf, but all the others…Lock, Shock, Barrel…Akuma…" My world stopped. He could not say the next name. My life would shatter. My heart would break. Please…not the next name… "…Kage." He whispered, bowing his head. We all were frozen. I could feel my life break apart violently, pieces drifting by, spinning into an eternity of nothing. "No!" someone was shouting, and I dimly realized it was me.

Tsubaki was crying silently, and Maka and Blackstar were peppering Jack with questions. Soul put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry dude." Liz and Patty were yelling something at me, something about calming down; it would be alright, trying to drag me away. It wouldn't be alright. Nothing would ever be alright again. I tore away, running blindly back to their apartment, the one she would never use again. She would never write in her diary, never put another photo in her album, never use that perfectly made bed with that little crease in one corner that wouldn't straighten no matter what I did. _NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!_

_Kage's POV:_

It hurt. It hurt so much. Everything was dark. I couldn't feel anything but pain, not even myself. I tried to open my eyes, then realized I couldn't tell if they already were or not. I was so scared, it was like nothing I'd ever felt before. I couldn't concentrate long enough to figure out what had happened to me. Jack had done something. He had done this to me. Was I dead? Was Akuma dead? It was all so fuzzy…wait… there was a light. I strained, trying to reach it. Nothing mattered but that light. It was reality. It was an anchor. It was something to hold onto. I felt my hands brush it, and then everything went dark again. I hurt so much more all of a sudden, and a muffled scream wrenched out of my throat, my eyes snapping open. Wait…I could see! My aching eyes were just barely open, light streaming into my pounding head. I was thirsty. I was hungry. I was tired. I was cold. But I was alive, damnit.

I was hovering, my feet just barely brushing the ground, in a pillar of orange light. It was all coming back to me. Jack had imprisoned us and everyone else in our circles, draining our power for…what? The Pumpkin King was securely bound, even if we got free. What and why had he done this to so many other people, instead of just me and Akuma? Speaking of…there they were. DK and Akuma hovered beside me, eyes closed. I tried reaching out by our connection, but the link was savagely cut as darkness washed over me again, eyes rolling up in my head. Ah. It drained _all_ of _every_ kind of power. That made getting out a lot harder. How to go about this…ah.

Slowly, _very_ slowly, I began shutting myself down. Weapon, down. Witch, down. Meister, low. My senses dulled, and my body slumped as anything not vital to my survival shut down. My mind, obviously, had to be last thing to go. I walled off all that brimming power within me, lowering my output dramatically. This battery was running on empty, and sooner or later, it would run out. What happened to me then was probably very nasty, but at least this way I had a hope of survival. Who knew, maybe a passing do-gooder might come by and free me. The odds for that were about a zillion to negative billion, but I have learned that sometimes, you take the gamble, and you get lucky. I certainly hoped I was.

_**There we goes, all wrapped up. Hehe, not. Me and…May…are working on another May and Jay thingy! Well, we were already working on something to wrap up the Soul eater ones, but we sat down at the computer over snack and thought "You know, Hellsing has some interesting people…" And thus, thus we decided to do a **__Hellsing__** May and Jay. We are also working on an ending for the Soul Eater ones, if anybody wants to know. Being a May and Jay, of course it's hilarious. It should show up soon, possibly even today, if we get going on an inspiration wave. But no promises, I have to work on this, my new Hellsing fanfic, and update my author's page so you people know what I did on my long absence. That's a lot of stuff, and I also have to work on a video of my trip pictures to show you guys…it's a lot, okay? That's all. Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien!**_


	31. Distractions

_**Whew, I'm gonna try writing for another chapter. Still fighting off the writer's block, so I may only update every other day or something for a while. Cross your fingers for me! *does full body cross* Let's see, what happened in my week-long or so absence…watched Hellsing Abridged…got assaulted by the ground…had another Hellsing plot bunny…my friend from the trip got an account, calls herself DuckDestruction, and PMed me a few times…not much. *Sigh* Finally got back to Minnesota time. Now waking up at normal hours for me! :D That being going to sleep at 11 and waking up at 9. But its normal for me…hehe. *Shrugs* So then…oh, spoiler, got two May and Jays in the works. A Hellsing one, and the VERY LAST May and Jay for Soul Eater. Also a crossover May and Jay in the nebulous future… (Yes, that's a word. What do you think Google's for? Look it up) We got a lot of material to go through. Working on it! (Based off of a Ignorance AMV)**_

_3__rd__ Person POV:_

"He hasn't slept." Liz said, straightening her hair slowly. "No more screaming…" Patty whined, twirling a finger around her bangs. "Didn't even yell like he normally does when I smashed the chandelier in the hallway." Blackstar mused, rubbing his chin. "He's really depressed…" Tsubaki said, sipping a cup of the tea she had brewed. "Dude's got it bad…" Soul grumbled, leaning back in his chair with his arms behind his head. "Don't be so negative, his girlfriend just…just died." Maka sniffled, wiping her eyes like she was scrubbing away tears. They all sat, and the unspoken question on all their minds was _How the hell are we going to get Kid back?_

Kid could care less about…everything. He opened one eye, hearing the phone ringing. Probably one of his friends calling to berate him about hiding out in Kage's apartment all day. _Or night…whatever time it is…_ He yawned, feeling his body begging for sleep. A whole month of not sleeping made even his Reaper body tired. But why should he sleep? Why should he eat? Why should he do anything now that she…she was gone. The ringing was annoying him now. He sat up, intending to pull the plug, and froze when he saw the call number. He fumbled the phone off, grabbing it and shakingly pressing _answer_. "Kage?" he asked in a voice cracked from lack of sleep and nutrition. "Oh, it's you is it?" He froze. _That voice…_ "Queenie?" he muttered, running a hand through his tangled hair. "DING! You won a prize. I have less than a minute before I get sucked back in, so listen and listen good. Write these coordinates down, and then tell your dad to put his mirror-watching eyeballs there. You might be surprised at what you find." She then rattled off a set of coordinates that he frantically wrote down, then paused. "You got all that?"

Kid nodded, and then corrected himself. "Yeah. What are you doing, we all thought you were dead-" She growled, and a burst of static crackled through. "Shut it Reaper. I'm already getting sucked back in, just do what I say and whatever you do don't show Ja-" Her voice was cut off. "Queenie! Hello?! Are you there?!" he shouted desperately, clinging to his only connection with Kage. Static was his only answer. He stared at it, ideas whirling through his head. He could ask father for help, and pray Jack wasn't there. But this may be his one and only chance to get Kage back. His mouth firmed. No. He would do this. For Kage.

_***Time Skip***_

"Father!" Everyone turned around. Kid was leaning against an archway, panting. He looked better than he had in days, hair brushed and clothes neat. "Is Jack here?" he asked, eyes darting all around. "No…" Spirit said warily, and he brightened. "Here…we got a tip about…Kage and the others'…location…" He said, holding out a slip of paper. Lord Death took it, reading over the coordinates and flicking a glance at his mirror, which started to glow. "Are you sure you want to see this? It may be…a little disturbing. Jack said they were utterly wiped out." he said kindly, and Kid shook his head. "I need to see father. I need to know." Everyone else was in much the same suspense as the mirror hummed and flickered, at last solidifying into a picture. "Oh my god…" Stein said, cigarette falling from his open mouth. "Kage…" Maka murmured, hand over her mouth.

It was horrific. A large Pumpkin head was inscribed with glowing orange lines in the ground, and there were individual spots of orange, that when zoomed in on, showed glowing pillars with people trapped in them like flies in amber. As they watched, one, who seemed like a witch, screeched, arching and writhing as her energy pillar went dark, then bright, and her body ruptured and imploded, soul now twisting and shuddering with its confines. Lord Death frantically flipped through the pillars, searching for someone they knew. Lock was first. She was floating, head back and mouth open, her smoky hair floating around her face like she was in water. Dark lines raced across her skin, but she seemed alive. Her nails were covered in black lines, but it didn't seem to be causing her any pain.

Next they found Shock. His bleached hair was on end, black lines waving through it like snakes, but he too seemed unharmed. Barrel was last, and he looked almost normal. His face was contorted with pain though, so it seemed he was having more trouble resisting the effects of…whatever this was. Akuma and DK were next. They looked almost peaceful, like they were sunbathing, but they were covered in the black lines like a zebra was covered with stripes. Kage…she was last of all, and Kid let out a horrified whimper at the sight of her. A nimbus of black lines crackled like a lightning storm in her pillar, her body almost completely obscured behind the shuddering mass. It occasionally parted to show her face, slack and numb, like she had become a zombie. Her blonde hair was floating around her face, entangled within those black, snaky shadows. "Stein?" Lord Death croaked, and the mad doctor cleared his throat.

"This is a level of Spatial Magic. It seems like it sucks out as much power the subject can provide, without killing them for as long as possible. They will be hurting, no matter what. I don't know how, but Kage seems to have found a way to resist the pull. See those lines? I think they're the physical manifestation of the…battery…they are put in. The more power that's sucked out, the less lines there are. So Barrel is almost drained, but Lock, Akuma, Kage, and Shock are all still going strong. The shadows are trying to crack open her protections, and if they do, it will be all over for her. Jack was lying to us. He wanted revenge, and this is the perfect way to get it." he said, pushing his glasses up on his nose.

"Ah…then we need to get them back. Kid, you, Maka, and Blackstar will go and break those batteries, and get the Nightstalker out. Bring them here and then we'll see what to do about Jack." Kid nodded, already humming with the urge to go get his girlfriend. The meisters all shuffled out, and Lord Death quickly turned off his mirror. If Jack got wind of this…

_Jack's POV:_

So then. That was how the cards were dealt. I pulled the shadow away from the Reaper's son, grinning to myself. I would be a poor leader if I hadn't already planned for this…contingency. I pulled a pen out of my pocket, smirking evilly. Two of Medusa's little shadow-snakes popped out, and I put them in both hands. "Crona…guilt…" I whispered, letting the first one go. "Stein…madness…" I chuckled, letting the other arrow off on its mission. With the best meister gone, and the DemonSword vanished, it would put the already scrambling meisters even more at odds. And then of course, due to the snake's stimuli, the DemonSword would confess to being a traitor, which would occupy the sycthemeister long enough she wouldn't be able to go on the mission. Stein would most likely wander off somewhere, probably to Medusa. That would keep even more people occupied. The Starclan brat would most likely be tied up in the calls for more help and more meisters. Which left only the Reaper. And as for him…well…shadows were very adept at causing distractions.

_**Daw, who missed my cliffies? NOBODY! Yeah, I'm back. Still got a busload of material to go through, so don't expect daily updates like I used to. Just gotta finish *deep breath* my two May and Jay oneshots, the Hellsing full story, that one one-shot that's a crossover, and any plotbunnies that come up. As well as a media slideshow for my grandpa to thank him for pay for half my trip. Yeah, I got a lot on my plate people. But this is my second priority! They read as such:**_

_Hellsing Chapter_

_Soul Eater Chapter_

_May and Jay one-shot for Hellsing_

_May and Jay one-shot for Soul Eater_

_Crossover May and Jay for Hellsing and Soul Eater_

_Slideshow on OneTrueMedia_

_Plotbunnies_

_**Yeah…I'm working down the list, but since I've been absent from this so long I thought it better to post this chapter first. Whew, now I gotta go do other stuff. Well, Review, Request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien! **_


	32. Going In

_**Right people, I'm trying again. *crosses fingers* Oh, by the way, I published the very LAST May and Jay that will be entirely Soul Eater themed. Go check it out! We also have a new minion by the name of Mack…well, go check it out already! Fine, I'll put some quotes in, but only because I feel guilty about my long absence. **_

_**"AVENGE ME SHARKY! AVEENNNGGGE MEEEEE!"**_

_**"Quite alright. I'm getting tired of strangling people." The mummy said happily, stretching his legs out and yawning.**_

_**"Must've forgotten to pay the gravity bill…" Jay murmured, looking at the thermostat on the wall.**_

_**"Because if you don't hurry up we're going to run out of candy and then we're all in trouble."**_

_**"I AM BLOODY-STAIN! I WILL DRAIN YOUR SOUL!"**_

_**"There's a bunch of nice people whose souls need to be drained. Go, be free giant crazy homicidal blood tornado!"**_

_**He swung his beloved panzerfaust around, shouting "WHO WANTS SOME KABOOM-BOOMS?!" and charging into the fray.**_

_**Yeah…it's gonna be epic. Well, it IS epic since I already have it out on the net…bah, who cares. Also, I am having a self-insert or whatever it's called. Please, someone PM or review (there's a story called "May and Jay Hiring") with your name (made up or otherwise) appearance (likewise) and what you want us to do. It is a zombie scenario, in case that's bad for anyone. We need a minimum of four author/authoresses to volunteer before we can post the first chapter though. So far we have had three volunteers, so we only need ONE more meat puppet before we can start. Of course, we can have a lot more than that…in fact; we WANT a lot more than just four fellow survivors…so get your collective rears in gear and start signing up! (Based off of a Comatose AMV)**_

_Kid's POV:_

I gritted my teeth, knocking on Liz's door. Patty was already beside, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "Wha? Kid? ITS 3 IN THE MORNING AND IF THIS IS SOMETHING ABOUT SYMETRY YOU WILL BE A VERY SAD LITTLE REAPER-BOY!" she snarled, seeing the clock on the wall opposite. "It's not. It's about Kage." I said calmly, and she immediately stood down. "Look, Kid, Lord Death already went over this. With Stein gone and Crona turning out to have been working for Medusa, we need every person we have doing everything they can." She said apologetically, and I shook my head. "No. You heard Stein, the longer she's in those things; the more chance there is of her dying. I won't let that happen." I said firmly, and Patty nodded rapidly. Liz sighed, going back in her room for a few minutes, and then coming out fully dressed. "Fine. Let's move it." she said wearily, and my face lit up.

_***Time Skip***_

"Creepy…" Liz whined as we strode through the pillars of orange light, pulsing lines zigzagging across the ground at our feet. Patty nodded, poking one that held a shuddering witch's soul and jumping back as the pillar crackled ominously. I licked my lips nervously, seeing the lack of bodies. There had been many, many more still living witches and Kishin when father had looked here with his mirror. We had to find Kage. I gulped, seeing Lock. She looked exhausted, the black lines that showed resistance almost gone now, her body limp and weak. Shock was a few pillars away, dangling in the grip of the floating light as well, black lines nearly vanished. Barrel, who was right next to his brother, looked almost gone, emaciated and corpselike. Next was DK and Akuma, and I breathed a sigh of relief, seeing them still calm and relaxed, with a large amount of black lines dancing along their body. My breathing quickened as I approached the last pillar, staring at the ground, too afraid to lift my head and see if she was still alive.

Finally I could take it no longer and looked up, seeing Kage nearly face to face with me, eyes shut as a nimbus of black lines danced along her skin, wriggling under her clothes and hair, darting out from her splayed hands to connect with the sides of the light pillar. A huge wave of relief and pain smashed into my chest, knowing she was alive, but what was happening to her… "Now what?" Liz asked, putting her hands on her hips and frowning. I shrugged silently, touching the pillar lightly with my forefinger. A crackle of what felt like light electricity flowed through me, jerking me back slightly at the stinging pain. I glared at the pillars, questing for something to clue me in on how to break the spell. I placed my palm against it again, not jerking away at the prickling pain. Kage would be going through so much worse. I stared at her face, willing an idea to come to me. _Maybe if I…_ "Boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange?" I whispered, crossing my fingers mentally.

No reaction. "Come with us and you will see, this our town of Halloween." I murmured, trying to dredge up every positive memory I knew about her. No reaction. "This is Halloween, this is Halloween, Pumpkins scream in the dead of night. This is Halloween, everybody make a scene, trick or treat 'till the neighbors gonna die of fright." I tried again, every positive memory, even trying to pour in some of the negative ones as well if that would help. No reaction. "It's our town, everybody scream, in this town of Halloween…" I said softly, pressing my palm against the solid wall of light like it would let me in, searing her face into my consciousness. "I am the one hiding under your bed; teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red. I am the one hiding under your stairs, fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair." I gritted my teeth, resonating with all my might, concentrating hard on Kage with every fiber of my being. "This is-" there was an almost audible snap, and my eyes flashed open to see the entire scene changed, me now standing in a grassy clearing outside of Halloween Town.

"Kage?" I asked, looking around frantically. No answer. Then- "NO!" a child's voice screamed, sobbing the word out again and again as I started and ran towards the cries. I stumbled to a halt, not believing my eyes. Kage, much younger, was kneeling by the side of a bloody and battered body, crying her eyes out. Her tiny black dress was ripped, hanging off one shoulder, and I saw a roughly-made bandage around it, stained with blood. "Akuma wake up!" she sobbed, shaking the body desperately. I stepped forward, wanting to help her, but unsure of how. She growled, shaking him harder as anger replaced fear. "WAKE UP! You said you were gonna be my partner for ever and ever, so get up! C'mon Akuma, _please_…" she whimpered, pressing her face against his chest. She suddenly twitched all over, looking down at his body, and I saw the distinctive red-black eyes of a possessed Demonmeister. "Oh no you don't." she hissed, standing up and flexing her hands as I saw the shadows begin to whip around her like leaves in a hurricane. "SOUL SEAL!" she screamed, slamming her interlocked hands down on his chest like she was giving him CPR.

She pulled away as his body arched, spine bending as his nervous system spasmed. But he did not make a sound or open his eyes. She sniffled, tears dripping down her face as she staggered to her feet and tried again. "SOUL SEAL!" she wailed, hitting him harder. His body jerked and shuddered, limbs weakly stirring, but he did not open his eyes and still remained silent. She lay across his chest, panting hard like she had run several miles, and I sensed her Soul Wavelength was running dangerously low. "Akuma…" she whispered his name weakly, propping herself up and glaring down at him. "You get your lazy-" she hit him again with the reviving attack. "-selfish-" Harder. "-whining-" Again, even harder. "-perfectly synchronized-" Black shadows whirled and slammed back into him, causing his tiny body to jerk and shudder. "-always dependable-" Her Soul Wavelength was almost gone, and her eyes kept slipping shut. "-DAMN BROTHERLY SELF BACK HERE!" She screamed, hitting him with the hardest attack yet, making both of their bodies judder and writhe as shadows danced across their skin.

She fell back, unconscious, and I saw a flash of green as Akuma's eyes slipped open. "Kage…" His voice was weak and raspy, and he was barely able to sit up, but he was alive. He looked to the side, seeing her unconscious body, and redoubled his efforts to stand, finally managing to get to his feet and limp over, slinging her over his shoulder and laboriously walking away from the spires in the distance, a searing and determined gaze in his hard emerald eyes. "C'mon Kid. This is depressing." Kage's voice said behind me, and a firm grip on my shoulder yanked me away from the heart-breaking scene. I staggered, now in a completely empty section of forest. Kage sat down on a log, kicking her feet up and completely ignoring me. I cautiously approached, and I saw the flash of green as her eyes swerved to me. "What?" I licked my lips. "We came to get you out." I said, and she smirked. "What?" I asked, self conscious as she began to chuckle. She didn't answer, chuckles turning into uproarious laughter. "Kage snap out of it!" I said harshly, and her laughter stopped.

"Look, Kid, I appreciate it, really, but you do know it's impossible to get me out. Plus, I don't believe my own hallucinations. You're the fourth version of him to come around." I blinked, a little uncomfortable that she had been having hallucinations about me. "Am I any different than the other ones?" I asked slowly, and she smirked. "Nope." I growled, running my hands through my hair and banging my head against a convenient tree. "Well, what did they do?" I asked, my forehead still pressed against the tree. She cackled again, and I gulped. "Why Kid, I already know that! And since you're one of my delusions, you know everything I know!" she said sarcastically, and I sighed. "For the sake of pretending, let's say you forgot. What did the other hallucinations do and say?" She frowned, nibbling her lower lip, and flipped her head upside-down on the log. "Mostly pleas for me to come back and ridiculous escape schemes. How'd you "get in"? The others mostly said something about crawling in through a vent."

I shook my head rapidly to cure that disturbing image. "I…did a Song Resonance, or at least tried, and came to that one scene with you and Akuma…" I said sheepishly, feeling hangdog for spying on her flashbacks, or whatever they were. She blinked. "Oh…mkay." She said absently, frowning up at the tree branches above her. "Hey…if you really aren't an illusion…please tell me Akuma is alright." She said suddenly, looking at me directly. I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "They're doing fine. But…that battery spell's almost completely killed everyone in it. You, DK, Akuma, Lock, Shock, Barrel, you're the only ones left. And of those, yourself and Akuma are really the only ones that are completely unharmed." I said sadly, and she nodded. "Oh…" I threw caution to the wind and edged close, putting my arm around her and pulling her close. "I'm gonna get you out of here. Don't worry." I said firmly, and she chuckled. "Mmm…you're an idiot. Illusion or not, you're an idiot." She said, leaning into me slightly.

_**OH YEAH! DIE YOU STUPID WRITER'S BLOCK, DIE! Peoples, I think I have fought my way out of the Soul Eater corner I have been backed into. Now then, let's get this finished. Me n' May have things to do, after all. *evil grin* Yeah, there's the holiday thing, and the Hellsing/Soul Eater crossover, and the zombie one people are allowed and in fact encouraged to participate in, yeah, we have some stuff. I finished my Hellsing story, so now I really have no choice, if I'm gonna write, I'm gonna write Soul Eater. My fabulous little sister got me Soul Eater Book 12 as a souvenir on her vacation, and it is awesome. So happy…:D Who hath missed my cliffith hangers? Hehe, Ye Old English there. Sorry, evil energy has been building and building from the lack of May and Jaying. Right then…I need reviews to make sure you people are still there! Yup, Review, Request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien!**_


	33. Challenge: Accepted

_**Sorry about the absence guys, but it seems just after my writer's block has bit the dust, my dad feels a sudden urge to finally get his rear in gear and start job-prepping again. So I get the computer a little less often than usual, and there's some other stuff I wanna take care of, and then I realize my time's up and I haven't finished or even started the chapter for today. *shame and embarrassment cloud* So yeah, sorry. Also today I got the Soul Eater books 13, 14, and 15, and that required immediate reading. *has a moment of SE obsession and pets books* my precious, my precious…where was I again? Oh yeah, apologies, being late, got it. Sorry guys. I published the first chapter of the zombie thingy fanfic. Go, be free my insane volunteers! Also, you guys need to review. SAY SOMETHING ALREADY! I'm begging you guys! Review me already! (Based off of a When He's Calling For You AMV)**_

_Kage's POV:_

I sighed, leaning into the illusion-Kid. He smelled the same, like cleaning and Reaper-energy. I missed that about the real Kid. The illusion sighed as well, leaning into me and gently stroking my hair. "C'mon Kage, think. How do we get you out of here?" he asked, and I shrugged soundlessly. I was going to die soon. I knew it. The barriers I put up on my power were crumbling, and in the cave-in energy when they broke would let the battery suck me dry all at once. I wanted to take as much meager comfort as the illusions would offer as I could get. "I was able to force my way into your mind with a Song resonance, so do you think you could resonate through me to the other Nightstalker? You're pretty much all that's left, and if they get free maybe the other Witches and…actually, I think it's just the witches now that are left besides you guys. So there wouldn't be any danger of freeing Kishin." He mused, leaning back a little.

I sighed, shaking my head. "Kid, if you were real that might work, but you're an illusion. It won't, and if I expose myself to the battery by trying a resonance with something that isn't there, I'll die." I said matter-of-factly, and Kid pulled away, gently grabbing the back of my neck and forcing me to look into his eyes. "Kage, please. Trust that this is the real Death the Kid. Try a resonance with me. I promise, I'll be there." He said softly, bright yellow orbs searing into mine. He gently kissed my nose, then vanished. I sat back on the log, staring up at the sky. _What do I do…what if that really was him…how can I know? Do I take the gamble?_ As if in reminder of all the gambles I had taken before, cries and images pressed in on my ears and eyes. _Everything going black and all I could see was his familiar slasher smile…I heard a mournful cry, and turned slightly to see Kid staring after us, a betrayed look on his face…__YOU ARE OUTCAST!" Jack snarled, pressing it deeper into my burned skin. I screamed again and again, feeling the fire burn into my shoulder, marking me for what I was forever._

No, luck was never with me on my gambles. But… My eyes snapped open. I was tired of being the loser to all of life's indifferent dice rolls. "KID!" I screamed, forcing my way through the unconsciousness enveloping my brain, my physical eyes snapping open to see Kid, wearily leaning against the glowing pillar and smiling at me tiredly. I blinked, a tear slipping down my face. He was there, just like he promised. He nodded once, hand reaching out and placing his palm against the light pillar. "Soul Link Snap. Multiply." I whispered, gritting my teeth as Kid closed his eyes, the battery's power closing in around me and attempting to suck it all away. _No._ My fist clenched, pressing against the light right next to Kid's. _No._ I endured it, power shuddering and wailing around me as the flickering orange lights brightened, dulled, brightened again, the pillars around me cracking and shattering. Akuma's was last, DK opening their eyes as he weakly grinned at me, raising an eyebrow at Kid.

I was the very, very last, all of the battery's power surging towards me, locking together in an attempt to keep the last precious prisoner bolted away. But I wasn't going to be a prisoner any longer. No, I was going to get out. I screamed, arching as the spell imploded around me, falling limp on the ground, but barely being saved by a pair of arms I had grown to recognize. "You seriously need…to stop dropping in on me like this Kage…" Kid murmured weakly, falling to his knees as he held me up. I chuckled, leaning against him in exhaustion. "Stupid Reaper." I whispered fondly, nuzzling his neck happily, letting the soothing smell of cleanness and Reaper swarm over me. "Damn Nightstalker." He retorted, snuggling against my body in relief. Akuma and DK coughed pointedly, and I leaned away again. Kid helped me up as Liz and Patty did the same to Akuma and the other Nightstalker, most of whom could stand on their own after a little help.

Lock staggered over, along with her brothers. "Kage, Akuma…you were right this whole time. Jack's insane. He doesn't care about anything but getting revenge on you two anymore." She said softly, looking over the field of souls, Witch, Kishin, and Nightstalker. "What'll you do?" Liz asked softly, and Patty nodded, wide-eyed. My fists clenched, and I stumbled to my feet, a fire burning in my eyes. "We do what we should have done six years ago." I snarled, and Akuma nodded, DK grinning. "We eliminate him, once and for all." I hissed, and Lock, Shock, and Barrel, exchanged looks, then grinned at us. "We're in." they said in unison, and Kid smirked at me. "I better come along, if not to keep you out of trouble. DWMA supervision, you know." He teased us, catching Liz and Patty. The Nightstalker all held hands in a circle. "Whistle and wait." I said, and Lock grinned. "Respond and Return." She said, her brothers echoing her. "Cursed meet, cursed part, dead we meet again." We said in unison, pumping our joined hands and then cheering.

_3__rd__ Person POV:_

Jack stood in the desert, several miles away from Death City's entrance. He knew what to expect. He had felt the souls from miles away. His hard black eyes glinted dangerously, echoing the flash that sparked off of his scythe as he twirled it absently in one hand, playing with his knife. A wind that stirred his hair picked up, sweeping the duststorm, so like the one that had heralded Kage and Akuma's arrival to Death City, away, revealing the figures that waited on the next hill. He let out a slow breath, flicking the knife out into the air, watching as the target waited, then reached out and took it from the air, placing it in the sand by her feet. He gritted his teeth, rage making his soul pulse slightly as it was revealed to the watchers on the far off dune.

Kage exhaled slowly, cracking her neck. She looked along the line, seeing all her friends and family ready. Lock was scowling, rapidly wiggling her fingers to work out the kinks, red, blue, yellow, and brown nail polish glinting dangerously. Shock ran his hands over his hair a few times, collecting a crackle of electricity in his hand, balls of lightning and sparks darting between and wrapping around his fingers. Barrel smirked, twirling his wooden staff-hand so that it made a faint whistling sound. Kid was on her left side, yellow eyes glinting with rage as he glared at Jack angrily. She looked down, seeing Akuma's eyes fixed on her, soft and waiting for his sister to make her move, trusting her to come out alright. DK was grinning recklessly, sharp teeth showing as he stared at Jack, already hungering for a new soul.

She looked back down at Jack. "Do you have anything to say in your defense?" she asked, and he smirked. "I think I should be asking that question. You killed her. _You killed her! _You will NEVER be forgiven, not when the sky itself falls and the sun darkens!" he roared, sending a tentacle of shadow at her, crashing into the dune as sand billowed up, clearing to reveal her standing several yards away, completely unharmed. The line was otherwise unbroken. "Jack, Skeleton Jack, the Demonmeister Pumpkin King…" she said, striding forward as shadows curled up and followed in her wake. She stopped a hundred feet away, green eyes sparking with a raging anger. "You have taken your last soul, you have ruined your last life. After today, nothing will remain of you. I have to destroy you utterly. You have to be exterminated from the clan. Unclean blood must not remain." She said softly, and he laughed, a wild, insane sound. "An outcast quoting the Book! Now I've seen everything! Well then, Kage, Nightmare Queen, former Nightmare Queen Demonmeister, Great Old One…I accept your challenge. We will see whose soul is stronger." He purred, and they crouched, brandishing their weapons.

_**Dun, dun, dadum. Hehe, oh damn you all must hate me right now. I has the evil giggles again. *cackles and falls off chair* Well, I actually have a reason for having such a blatantly cliffhangery cliffhanger, it's time for me to go to bed and I want to actually post a chapter today. See? Also, that was just an epic spot to stop, I'm sorry. Now you're all pumped for it! Me too! I wanted to make absolutely sure I wouldn't have another minne writer's block, so I ended there so I could be super motivated when I pick it up again tomorrow. Now, for the millionth time, Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersein!**_


	34. Perversion and Distortion

_**I hate you all. Well, not really. You know how everybody has that one spot by their house that nobody's really supposed to go in but you all hang out there anyway? Well ours was a super-cool natural ravine in the cornfield next door, along with a really cool spot with lots of trees, and guess what just got demolished for construction today? :)...not. WHHHHHYYYYYYY?! DX HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! *bangs head against desk***_

_**Construction guy comes up: You okay?**_

_**Me: Oh yeah, just excuse me a moment as all my happy childhood memories are brought down and completely destroyed by a couple dozen huge bulldozers n' stuff in a cloud of dust.**_

_**Construction guy: Okay! *thumbs up***_

_**Grrrr…if I was an anime character, I'd have a tick mark like on every freaking inch of my body/head depending on the shot. Stupid humanity, being all over-populous n' stuff. That's it, I'm releasing the metaphorical kraken. Jack, prepare to suffer the wrath of a ticked-off author whose watched Hellsing Ultimate and has no limit to the horrors she can perpetuate. Those who dislike blood n' guts, who are by the way idiots to be reading my stuff, look away now until about Lord Death's POV. Possibly later if there's another fight scene, because I'm basically thinking every bad guy Kage/everybody else is fighting right now are the construction people to help release anger. You've been warned…I'll put a less angry word at the bottom. (Based off of a It's My Life AMV)**_

_Kage's POV:_

The sand kicked up around us, but we could have been in a hurricane and we wouldn't have blinked. We _were_ hurricanes. Blink blink. _Clang, skreeeeee_. As soon as my eyes closed in a blink, Jack was face to face with me, scythe skidding across Akuma with a grinding jolt and a flash of sparks. I didn't even smirk, Akuma and DK flashing in my hands as I deflected blow after blow, pushing the power behind his strokes away and darting around him, not getting past his guard as he hacked at me blindly over his shoulder and almost scored a hit. I scowled, hopping back as I assessed the damage behind our brief melee. Jack was glaring at us, completely unharmed. A light sheen of sweat glinted on his face, and I heaved in a slow breath, assessing my own damage. None. My arms were aching, the force behind his blows making them tremble and sag, but with a flick of will I kept them up, putting on a brave front. Akuma and DK had some light scratches, and were panting heavily, having taken most of the attacks themselves. A tie, but one we had the bad end of.

Another slow breath. Jack cracked his neck, loosening the muscles as he inhaled and exhaled slowly, also prepping himself for the next move. I rolled my shoulders, twirling DK and Akuma a few times in preparation for a rain of blows, taken and doled out. Another blink, as the sand collected in my eyes, threatening to impair my vision unless I obeyed the body's natural urge. _BAM!_ Jack's hand slammed into my sternum, powerful Soul Force sending me flying as I hacked, blood spurting out of my mouth a little as I rolled and came back up, desperately blocking his flashing scythe and skipping away from his lunging hand, Soul Force lightning playing around his fingers. I screamed in frustration, the first sound either of us had made, cracking DK's pommel against his jaw, then following up with a Soul Force of my own, sending _him_ flying for once as I gained a few seconds to breathe and recover.

Bad. I was bruised, my skin tingling painfully where his hand had been, heart pumping erratically as the surges and crackles of his attack painfully squeezed it. I could taste the familiar salty, metallic tang of blood in my mouth, and swirled my tongue around, licking my lips and then spitting the red fluid out of my mouth, making a tiny red splotch on the sand. We grinned in unison. "Tired?" Jack taunted, and I shrugged soundlessly. "I'm faster than you, _old man_." I snickered, and he scowled. _Flash._ Face to face again, spinning and whirling as I hacked at him and he covered, easily slipping past my attack and defense to score light little cuts, marking me with his taunts and wounds. "So impatient, so hurried…" He said in an almost _bored_ tone, lightly nicking my cheek. I hissed wordlessly, lunging forward and unexpectedly scoring a hit, Akuma sinking deeply into Jack's side. He scowled, and I quickly jumped back, hopping a few times and assessing my damage in one quick breath before he was on me again. I hurled Akuma and DK at him in twin circles, their blades windmilling through the air, and he knocked them aside as I raised my arms, shadows exploding outward from my body and smashing into his own.

He was forced to a stop, feet away as the shadows coiled and shoved, sharp and blunt, fast and smashing, punishing him heavily. I was on even ground here. Shadows were what the Nightmare Queen did best. "Cat o' nines!" I shouted, whipping my hand out and jerking it back, shadows cracking through the air to rake across Jack's face, nearly blinding him. He growled, his own smaller, weaker shadows batting mine away along with his scythe, raking the air and chopping my attack to bits. I darted in, running around him in a rapid circle, trailing my left hand out and slicing his shadows apart, my spell recharging instantly. I yanked the scythe out of his hands, and it reformed, once again nothing more than his own shadows as he yanked it back with a scowl. Akuma and DK watched, sitting on a dune with the others, unable to help as I very well knew. DK didn't seem to be a combat person much, and Akuma was helpless without a meister. Well, not really, but against Jack…helpless.

"Shadow take shadow steal shadow make shadow real." I snarled under my breath, jumping up so I could fully view what I was about to do. "Shadow Storm!" I shouted, feeling a thrill of pride as I implemented a spell from the book Maka had given me, a boiling black mass erupting under Jack. He growled, eyes locking with mine as it enveloped him, shadows darting around inside, the entire mass cutting and squishing, squeezing and slashing the life out of him. Suddenly they all blasted outwards, and I grunted, crossing my arms and pushing them out in front of me, taking the brunt of the failed attack. The shadows limply twisted to the ground, fizzling out, and I glared, seeing Jack stand, panting hard and scored with a number of deep, even cuts. "Shade Shot!" I screeched, sweeping out my hand, a long shadow slashing out, fragmenting into multiple different balls of shadow that swerved around him in a dark mass.

They started hitting him, bouncing back and smashing into his body like a round from a pellet gun. He grunted, blood showering from his mouth as a couple tore all the way through, spitting the dark wetness out and frantically shielding himself by Soul-Forcing the lot away with a dripping hand. I scowled, dodging and ducking the little balls as I ran in closer. "Shadow Slash!" I hissed, uncrossing my arms and letting the resulting thin blade of shadow smash into him, knocking him further off his guard. He grunted, heaving himself to his feet on his scythe and holding his chest, panting as he glared at me, one eye taken out by the shadow pellets. I was breathing heavily as well, from effort, and held out a shaking hand, Akuma and DK jumping to their feet as morphing into my hands. "Let's go Soul Resonance!" I shouted, making sure to keep it just between us.

I gasped as power surged through me, and Akuma appeared on his blade. _Kage, what's going on?_ He asked, eyes widening. DK chuckled from his sword, flashing onto the blade as well. _New attack guys. What, you think you can absorb two Kishin and not get anything cool out of it? Think again buddy._ I shrugged, twirling the blade rapidly as they merged, inhaling and exhaling slowly. "HAAAAAHHHH!" I screamed, streaking towards Jack, who was narrowing his eyes, crouching to defend himself. _DK, it's your power, what is this?_ I asked silently, the power within the combined blades surging and surging. He chuckled. _Well, it's the next step up. __**Kishin style**__!_ I swept the blade around, feeling slight resistance, then nothing as I dipped and rolled past him, coming to a halt as I kneeled in the sand. _BWADOOOM!_ A large explosion roared, blowing the strands of hair past my face, but I didn't look back. "Good job kid. Always knew you had it in you." DK said warmly, appearing on his blade as they separated. He grinned at me once, then vanished as Akuma transformed. "We gotta make sure." He said warningly, stepping into the dust cloud as we waited for it to settle.

"Guys, you did it!" Lock said in awe, running over to us with her brothers in tow. Kid landed beside us on his skateboard, looking wary. "Are you sure?" he asked her, narrowing his eyes as we all spotted movement in the cloud. "Damn…how much does it take?!" Lock muttered to herself, bringing her hands up. There was a low laugh, and Jack stumbled, falling to his knees. "How…much? It…it was never much in the first place…" he coughed, sticky red blood trailing down his chin as he gasped at our feet. "God…that…" Shock whispered, pointing to his chest. I had seen it too. "Is that how far you went? Is that what you wanted so much?" I asked softly, and he numbly shook his head. "No…it was never enough…" he panted, glaring up at me with hatred seared in his gaze. "What…what is that?" Kid asked, horror apparent in every inch of his body.

As well it should be. Jack's broken corpse leered up at us; his chest all but hacked open, so much so you could see bones, organs, veins…and his soul. Both of them. "The first Nightstalker fused the souls of Witch, Meister, and Weapon at the cost of their own human one. Over the years, Nightstalker have endeavored to bring back the one thing they can never have, a human soul to call their own. I see how it is now, Skeleton Jack, the Pumpkin King Demonmeister. Even the overwhelming power that was _him_ wasn't enough for you. And so…" My gaze hardened, and I kicked him, flinging his body away so he lay on his back, gazing up at me levelly. "You did _this_. So perverted, so twisted, even the Nightstalker would have forbidden it if they had known. That's why you let Medusa in, wasn't it? That's why you made a deal. You couldn't have hidden a spiritual change of this magnitude from us forever. We were _witnesses_." I spat, rage burning in my core. He smirked up at me tiredly. "What, why would you care? Charlotte would have approved, if she was alive to know it."

I shook, and Kid gently wrapped his arm around my shoulder, Akuma grabbing my free hand. "Approved? APPROVED?! Charlotte was a true Nightstalker. She would _never_ have approved." I snarled, words almost failing me in my anger. He chuckled, head falling back with a thump. "You would never have understood, even if those demons didn't corrupt you first." DK snarled, surprising us all as he stepped forward, bringing his foot down and placing it on Jack's neck, cutting of his windpipe and vocal cords. "Shut it. Kage, kill him. This cockroach's lived long enough. Make it hurt." He hissed quietly, and Jack chuckled again. "Wh…what would she do that could hurt me now?" he whispered past the pressure on his neck. "Every…everything hurts now. Even Charlotte hurts." He gently brought his hands up to his chest, cupping his extra soul lovingly as I made a face and Lock gagged.

"I may be only a Reaper, and I may have no idea what's going on here, but everything about you disgusts me." Kid said harshly, and I nodded. "Kid, you know what happens when we try to fuse souls on our own?" Lock said gently, and he seesawed his hand in a "kinda" motion. "It almost never works. Jack here tried, and failed. But his failure was a strength. Any damage we put into him, he can put into his lesser soul, limiting the damage to his own body. He could let it heal, then attack again. But Kage just destroyed the connection, somehow. He can't put damage into his other soul now." She said softly, and I nodded. "But there's more. You went further, Skeleton Jack." I whispered, my bangs hiding my face. He smirked up at me, nodding. "You took someone's soul. You took one you knew. That day, all those years ago…" I glared at him, breathing heavily. "You took hers. You took the soul of the one you loved." He nodded again silently, clearly beyond words.

"Kill him. Kill him now." DK snarled, Akuma's eyes momentarily both going to his own and glowing red to boot. I shook my head. "I'm not going to kill him. He'll die in a matter of minutes anyway, help or not. I'm not wasting effort. But…" I grinned down at him mirthlessly as his eyes widened slightly. "I'm going to make him suffer. Just like we have." I said, kneeling as DK removed his dusty boot from Jack's throat. I gently reached inside his chest, ignoring the warmth and wetness of organs and blood, grabbing the extra soul as he whimpered, realizing my purpose. "No…please…let me die with her…" he begged, weakly reaching up as I pulled away, Charlotte's sad orange soul gently pulsing in my hand. "She doesn't deserve that. And neither do you." I said harshly, turning away and starting to walk as the others nodded to him, or spat, in Lock's case, and then followed. His screams behind us died down after a little, and I saw the flash of orange as his body combusted. "We'll need a new leader now." I said softly, seeing the wind blow the throbbing grey soul away, towards his eternal fate as one of the door guardians to our spirit realm.

"Yeah…none better than you Kage." Lock said, grinning impishly as she tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. I snorted. "Please, I'm outcast, remember? I have the mark and everything." I said firmly, and she nodded. "Akuma could do it?" Barrel mused, chewing his lip. DK raised an eyebrow. "You'd want _me_ in charge?" he asked incredulously, and we all laughed. It was nice to laugh again. Kid hugged me, and I hugged back, rolling my eyes as DK immediately protested he was going blind and could we please stop doing that even though he was being nice to the DWMA didn't mean he had to be nice to the Reaper and oh god no don't do that- We kissed, and he immediately broke off protesting to vomit behind the nearest dune, retching as everyone else laughed and wolf-whistled. We pulled apart for air, and my brother came up for the same thing, wailing that we had blinded him forever as I rolled my eyes.

"But seriously now, we should be getting back. And guys, do it the proper way, not just randomly naming off people. You say the names, you put it in the Grand Magical "fishbowl", and then it chooses for you." I said firmly, and they all rolled their eyes and nodded. "C'mon Akuma, are you done yet?" I asked, and he glared, wiping the back of his mouth. "Are _you_ done yet?" he asked pointedly, and I cackled, pointedly ruffling Kid's hair affectionately and pressing closer as Akuma made another face, DK clearly in torment. "Of all the people you have to like…" he complained as Kid mounted his skateboard and I cast the Shade Wings spell on everyone else, flapping a little off the ground as he followed. "DID IT HAVE TO BE A REAPER?!" he bellowed, stropping the air with his wings as he rocketed past me, streaming across the sky to the faint black dot in the distance, our new home, Death City.

_**Do remember guys, DK and Akuma share the same body. Just saying. You have been warned. *does magical mojo thing like a hypnotist* You have been warned… Anyway, again, please talk to me. Chat about your homework (if you're unlucky enough to have any), how your day's going, just ANYTHING, please show me that you're all still here…otherwise I may just have an emo-teen breakdown and possible catch another writer's block. YOU DON'T WANT THAT NOW DO YOU! Sorry about the gore and then the weird, I was really pissed and then I was suddenly reminded of Black Butler…I mean, that one part about where she was like…all goopy, and then the whole song thing and just….blech. Just BLECH. Anyway, I need to go pick up my sister, so Review, Request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien!**_


	35. Gearing Up

_**Mmm…school in less than a month, barely two weeks! AHHHHHHHH! *runs around computer in a panic* AHHHHHHHHHH! *still running* AHHHHHHHHH! *runs out of air* Ggk! Haaa…. AHHHHHHHHHHH! *continues screaming and running* Jokes aside people, I am going into high school in…two weeks. Am I nervous? *gibslap* Is the sky blue? 'Course I'm bloody nervous. All sorts of nasty things happen in high school, like prom and graduation and boys who actually try to be interested! Last is the most terrifying of all…I mean, all my relatives met their husband/wife in high school! I don't wanna like people! *hides in a corner but gets pulled out by family* Stupid parents…but still, I'm seriously paranoid about it. I've lived (oddly enough quite happily) my entire life without so much as a crush, so an actual relationship…bad. No. Nein. Nyet. Nope. 'Course I suppose this is all ego on my part, since that would entail males being interested…or females, which is even weirder. *makes face* I mean, I have nothing in particular against those sorts of people, my best friend's a bisexual (she's female), but that is just kinda…weird, ya know? Males were designed to procreate with females and females were designed to procreate with males. Anyway, back to the topic at hand, which is not males or females or females who wish to be males or any of that other conflicted miss-mash of junk that has lots and lots of prejudice and conflicted opinions. The fanfic's almost done! You know, even though Soul Eater is infinitely better than Hellsing, I find Hellsing fanfics much more fun to write. Strange...you know, I was almost hoping my writer's block would continue so I could like post the last chapter on Halloween, or at least sometime in October. That would be so boss…but probably not. I should just shut up and get writing. (Based off of a Monster AMV [the Meg and Dia version])**_

_Kage's POV:_

"Ggk…Lord…Death…sir…can't…breathe…" I managed to gasp out, and he immediately let go. I thumped to the floor of the Death Room, and Kid helped me up. "Wonderful! Wonderful! It's great to see you again Kage, how's it hanging?" he chirped, twirling in a circle and bouncing up and down as he clapped his hands then beamed at me. Well, it seemed like he did. With the mask it was hard to tell. I smirked a little to myself as Akuma received the same treatment, the one eye that DK controlled clearly startled and a little bemused he was getting included. "And sorry, but I don't really know the rest of you enough for a hug, but you're just as welcome!" he said brightly, gesturing to Lock, Shock, and Barrel. "Nah, hugs are overrated anyway." Lock said, backing away just in case. "Yeah, we're good." Shock muttered quickly, edging behind her. "Perfectly fine, no hugs needed." Barrel added hastily, waving his hands defensively. Akuma and I exchanged grins and went to stand with them.

"So you guys killed Jack?" I nodded once, and the others winced. "Well that's good news I guess. Now, on to our business, now that everything you needed to take care of is taken care of." I straightened, pulling a chair out of our shadows and melding it into a bench long enough for all of us to sit on. Kid sat next to me, with Akuma on my other side giving him the evil eye. "Arachne has made an alliance with the Kishin, and as you couldn't have failed to notice is somehow harnessing his madness to spread it across the world. You yourselves were part of an elaborate battery to charge this machine, or whatever it is. Stein's run off, and Crona was revealed to have a hand in it, I'm afraid. How much of _that_ did you all know?" We glanced at each other. "We know Crona wasn't doing it of his own will. I can feel the poor kid's madness and fear spiking from all the way up here. My bet's Medusa resurrected herself a while ago and was playing on his lack of moral experience. I mean, the kid's not exactly a smart one when it comes to knowing when he's being played. Naïve is a good way to describe it, if a little demeaning." I said, flicking a lock of my hair behind my ear.

Akuma and the others nodded sympathetically, and Kid sighed in agreement. "It's also a bit hard to miss out on _the giant red cloud in the sky that's obscuring everything._ Being the Kishin we are, Fear and Anger, we can tell pretty easily it's a Madness cloud, and even if we were completely human it'd take an idiot not to put two and two together. The bit about Arachne wasn't new either; we've made it a point to keep tabs on pretty much every witch in the world, just in case. We knew she revived recently, and since Jack choose a spot pretty close to her old castle, we've put two and two together for that as well. Stein…that's new though." I admitted the last one in a monotone, flushing slightly. Kid nudged me in a comforting fashion, and I smiled quickly at him before returning my gaze to Lord Death. He sighed, nodding wearily. "Nobody knows where he's gone off to. Now, about the upcoming events…due to Medusa's intell, we've located Baga Yaga Castle, and we obviously need as many people as we can get to join in on the attack. That's where you guys come in…"

Lock, Shock, Barrel, and Akuma straightened as I nodded. "The plan's rather simple, and you'll forgive me if I don't tell you much of it, after all even though I trust you completely, protocol remains." Lock shrugged helplessly, voicing all our thoughts. _Well, what ya gonna do? Protocol is protocol._ "Lock, Shock, Barrel, and the rest of your allies will split up into even groups that will attach themselves to our own units. Not only will this be a good way to keep an eye on you all, but you also can help more people and do more damage than if you were all bunched together." Akuma and I nodded. _Making sense so far…_ "Kage, Akuma, you're the most powerful, in the metaphorical and literal sense, of our allies. That's why we're splitting you up." We straightened immediately. "Sir, we're weapon partners, you can't just-" Akuma shouted, DK's eye narrowed with suspicion. Lord Death cut him off. "I know I know, but again, the fact remains that we have almost a minimal amount of fighters ready and able to combat the madness, and they _need_ their partners. While you are a formidable team together, apart is where I need you for this mission. You'll be able to beat most opponents easily on your own, together is an excess of force, do you understand?" We nodded reluctantly.

"Following that, Kage, I want you on a special mission with Kid. I blinked, feeling Kid jolt beside me. Whatever this mission was, it must be dangerous. "Father-" he began, but Lord Death cut him off. "The _secret_ mission, so please save your complaints until everyone is gone." Kid receded into a sullen silence. "There, that's everyone sorted out, so off you go! We start in the morning, so please do hurry!" The others filed out, and Kid stood, hands on his hips. Akuma gave me a warning look before closing the door. _Be careful._ "Father, this mission…Kage's barely recovered from the battery. Why does she need to come?" he said, and Lord Death sighed. "Kid, I know you care for her, I'd have to be blind not to. Kage, the same. I need someone to guard your back, and Nightstalker or not, Kishin or not, Kage's the one I have and the one I trust most. The cards have been shuffled, so prepare to deal with the hand we are given. I don't like it that much either, but we need to work with the limited resources we have."

_Akuma's POV:_

"_The objective of today's mission, destroy the Kishin Asura. In addition, we will target those who have sided with the Kishin, including the witch Arachne and the members of her organization Arachnophobia. We will be launching an attack…_" I snorted, leaning back. "When Death Scythe isn't being a womanizer he's kinda scary." I remarked carelessly to Kage, who nodded. Her eyes were focused on her hands, resting nervously on the desk. "_…The madness is spreading. It must be stopped, before it's too late! Which means we will also be battling against time. Our first objective, destroy the Kishin; second, we obliterate the madness machine. And then, the madness relay stations. And finally, Arachne. Kill her, and destroy her organization. We have every confidence in your skills, but we realize the risk of coming into contact with the Kishin. So do not forget to take your doses of madness suppressant before you leave. And now, a word from Lord Death…_" he cleared his throat before stepping away.

Lord Death's face filled the screen, and my nails suddenly lengthened, the wood of the desk splintering under them as I tried to suppress the wave of unexplained fear. _Dude, that was his serious face, the one I got creamed when he was wearing. And you ask why we're scared…___DK snorted in my head, and I breathed deeply, releasing my death-grip. "_Students…_" Another jolt of fear, and my whole body twitched. _Oh crap, that's his angry voice; get out get out get out GET OUT NOW!_ DK screamed, and I shuddered as Kage gripped my shoulder. "_-Do your best okay! Victory, victory! Victory, victory! Victory, victory!_" he said, giving us the peace sign and reverting to his childish voice as DK calmed. "_Alright, the operation will now commence. First destination, Baga Yaga castle_" Maka strode angrily out the door, and I sniffed slightly, feeling and smelling the comforting aura of anger she trailed in her wake. Kage nodded, smelling the similar aura of fear dissipate around me.

"Well, Liz and Patty are loading up on madness suppressant. Better get going." Kage said, sitting up and pushing her chair back. I nodded, and DK briefly took control of my mouth. "Yo, you be careful out there squirt. Asura may be mad as a hatter and spastic to boot, but that wavelength ain't something to be messed with. Plus, since Queenie is no longer conscious in your mind, the creep with target you instead of her." She nodded, a cocky gleam in her eye. "It isn't like you to say goodbye DK." He grinned, revealing a mouthful of shark-like teeth. "Ain't like me to pick a side like this either. Knock 'em dead kid. No pun intended." She grinned, high fiving me as I regained control and walking out the door with Liz, Patty and Kid.

_***Time Skip***_

Blackstar munched hungrily on a snack bar, making loud crunching noises. Soul was eating his as well, although Maka was just staring at hers. I nipped the edge of my own, tasting nothing but dust and grit. _Damn…loneliness._ God, why did Lord Death have to be so…_right_?! I needed something to target. Something to release my anger upon. _The Kishin. He's the one who started this, escaping and daring to almost kill the both of you into the bargain, not to mention myself and Queenie. Focus on hating him._ I let out a long breath, feeling the pounding anger-headache slowly vanish. _Thanks DK._ His eye rolled. _Ya, don't mention it. I got sappy enough with our sister back there, it's just because I don't want to suffer through it too. Being dead has its benefits sometimes. Do you have migraines, or is it because I've completely forgotten how a headache feels? Please tell me the latter._ I shrugged. _Maybe both. Serves you right for invading my head on a day-to-day basis._

He moaned loudly at the same time Tsubaki asked "Is there something bothering you Maka?" Maka shook her head a little. "No, it's nothing." Blackstar leaned forward from his perch on the rock we were hiding behind. "Uh oh! You're not getting cold feet are you?! Because there's nothing to be afraid of! Not as long as _I'm_ here anyway! With a big star like me around, this is the safest place in the entire world! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Tsubaki interrupted him, hissing "If you don't quiet down they'll know we're here!" He stopped cackling abruptly. Soul stepped over Maka. "Are you still thinking about that crap from last night?" he asked, and I felt a flash of frustration, and faintly a little fear. "Maybe…" she mumbled, not looking up. "You have to keep your head in the game today, otherwise the whole thing will fall apart! You of all people should know that!" he said, and I felt his frustration rise sharply. She remained silent.

"Don't worry Soul, I'm sure Maka's gonna do really well today. Sid and Lord Death both said her Anti-Magic wavelength might be all we need!" Tsubaki said warmly. "They're counting on a technique I can't master. It's ridiculous…" Maka murmured. "Stop saying that sort of thing. What, you think we managed to pull of being in the same freaking body in one day? I'm still tripping over this dude's feet!" DK said harshly, jabbing a thumb at us. "But there's more to it than that, the Genie Hunter isn't the only thing that makes you a great fighter!" Tsubaki added, and Maka curled tighter around herself. "There's nothing that great about me." Soul growled, clutching his hair in exasperation. "Damn, quit being such a perfectionist!" Blackstar snorted. "Yeah, like that'll happen!" he shouted, banging his feet against the rock and laughing again. "Blackstar, will you please be quiet!" Tsubaki hissed, and he stopped once more.

_**Okay, I know it's the middle of the scene, but I can't feel my hands anymore. TOO MUCH WRITING IN ONE GO! I stop now, noticing with regret how close we are to "THE END". *sad face* It was fun…by the way, Alice Return to Wonderland, the videogame thing…never buy that unless you want an epic mind "what the hell?" I mean, I'm crazy and**_ I_** got mind-screwed by it. Just…dang, they did a really good job simulating the mind of an insane person who's losing all sense of…well, it'd be a spoiler if I went further. Suffice to say, it is very madness-inducing. I bet Asura was hiding under these people's beds for at least two months. Anyway, back to cool things. Somebody finally reviewed the last May and Jay for Soul Eater. Now, to make things perfectly clear, it is the last PURELY Soul Eater May and Jay. We thought of and are currently developing a Hellsing/Soul Eater crossover May and Jay. (The Hellsing OVA, not the crappy anime. XP on the anime version.) Okay then, yeah…Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien!**_


	36. Counsuling

_**Well Great Zero, I COULD do a sequel…but I don't have any ideas for one. Trust me, if I had an idea I'd totally implement it, but…I don't. It's quite that simple. I dearly love all my OCs for this (DK bears the prize of my favorite OC ever) but I don't have an idea that would be worth making another story. *sigh* Hehe, the only time I did a sequel was when I did a cliffhanger of epic proportions to end the other story. You don't want THAT, do you? *smirk* But in all seriousness, I'm with you guys, I WANT to do a sequel, but I don't have any ideas for one. I don't even have any ideas for a prequel! (Although that's not a bad idea in it of itself…) Whoa, hold on, stop the show, Emma-sempai, you have DREAMS about this stuff? YOU LUCKY BUGGER! 8O… That is just so not fair! *throws minnie tantrum and then returns to computer* Okay, I'm good. But tell me about this, my author-senses are going whacko. I mean, when even **_I_** don't have dreams about these people, you must understand my curiosity is peaked when a reader does. O.o But anyway, yeah, I'm on Season Four, last couple episodes…weep for me people. *sniffles* Thank you all my nice reviewers, *deep breath* (in order of reviewing) Great Zero, kirbylovespie, Guest (whoever you are), .3 (who keeps showing up as .3), Medusa Gorgon789, Emma-sempai, Guest (possibly different than the other one), flamelalchemist103 (welcome from my Hellsings!), krikanalo (and no, I'm not starting a new line when a person talks. Not my style), Random (sorry, but they're Nightstalker! They'd whoop him!), Samansa-chan 147, redDaeth (also hi from Hellsing), It's ME (whom I suspect is a friend of mine, and no, I'm not doing a Black Butler QUITE yet.),and last but not least katie. Also all the nice people that followed/favorited, but I don't talk about you because…you need to review to be mentioned. Also there's too many of you to write down, at least for this foreword. (Based off of nothing, because this is pretty much word for word the Anime)**_

_Akuma's POV:_

"Just leave me alone guys." Maka grumbled, ducking her head. "You had a conversation with Sid before we left, didn't you?" Soul asked, kneeling and putting a hand on her shoulder. "What, you mean about the Genie hunter move? I told you its ridiculous." she snapped, and he sighed. "No not that. About Mrs. Marie and Crona…" She blinked, looking shocked as she peeked up at him. "Do you understand what's really going on? Why it had to be the two of them?" He stood, shaking his head. "The DWMA made a deal with Medusa, because of that, we can't harm her. Lord Death gave his word not to. And since at the time the adults were making decisions, Kage the others were all locked up in that freaky spell, they couldn't exactly bring them in."

"But Crona's in exile, isn't he? And Marie quit her teaching job." He added softly, and Maka gasped slightly. "Lord Death's making some pretty low moves these days. There might be something in what Kid told us. Maybe we really can't trust the academy anymore." She looked up at him, clearly thinking. "Now you're getting our point of view. What, you think we're anti-Reaper just because some of us got caught in the crossfire of some witch scandal every now and then?" DK chuckled, winking an eye at her. "I was wondering why Kid and Kage aren't here with us, maybe this has something to do with it!" Tsubaki said, and there was a moment of silence, broken by, who guessed it, Blackstar. He clapped his hands, saying "We can't afford to freak out every little thing that comes our way right now." He snapped, and Maka shook her head stubbornly. "If you ask me it's the other way around, we can't afford _not to_." She muttered, and he snorted, leaning back on his rock again. "Don't know about you, but I'm here to win! I'm gonna take down every last one of 'em, and when that's over…" he punched his fist in the air. "-I'll surpass God!"

Soul sighed. "Great, here he goes again." Maka didn't seem to hear, hunching over more. "What she I do?" she whispered, and DK sighed. _I hate consulting sessions. Made me itchy. Well, it always seemed easier to kill the consular, ya know?_ I gently bounced my head against the stone, feeling cold granite under my head. _Have you ever considered any alternative that ISN'T completely insane?_ He scratched our chin, shrugging. _All things considered, __insanity was usually the only reasonable alternative._ I rubbed my forehead, feeling another headache coming on. Suddenly flames roared a few miles off, and our honed instincts had me whipping out a shadow as well as turning my arm into a blade, crouching in a ready stance. When I realized there was no attacking in our immediate area I sheepishly withdrew both as Blackstar jumped down. "YEAAAAAH! I hope these guys are ready to see one hell of a performance!" he shouted, and Tsubaki bit her lip. "Not yet Blackstar, hold on." We all looked at Maka as she stood unsteadily.

"What do you think Maka?" Soul asked quietly. "The Kishin has to be defeated…the academy's doing the right thing…but still…even knowing that…there's no way I can abandon Professor Stein and Crona, that's not who I am…I can't just forget about them…" She gritted her teeth. "But I don't know what I'm supposed to do! What do I do?!" Soul growled. "Would you stop being such a crybaby! Waa waa waa, whine whine whine, what the hell's wrong with you!" he barked, and felt both their tempers rise. "What is your problem! Why are you talking to me like that!" she snapped back, and he sighed. "Because you have to make a decision!" She blinked. "Get a grip Maka, decide what you're going to do!" he shouted, and her eyes widened. Her fist slowly unclenched, and she smoothed it over the rock. "Yes…I see now." She let out a shaky breath and smiled. "You know, it's funny. My dad always used to warn me to choose my friends wisely, and he was right. Look at me, a perfect student. Thanks to you I'm a rule breaker."

I made a seesawing motion with one hand. "I prefer the term…finder and user of loopholes." DK said playfully, and Soul grinned at Maka. "Right! That's it! Sorry guys, the rest is up to you!" Blackstar blinked. "Huh?" Tsubaki giggled, and he blinked. "What's with her?" Maka clenched her fist. "From now on I'll be doing things my way!" she said and suddenly ran off into the woods, and Soul sighed. "It's all you guys." He said, patting Blackstar's shoulder and then running off after her. "Who's she kidding, Maka couldn't be more wrong." Blackstar grumbled, folding his arms. Tsubaki and I blinked, looking at him. "I don't care what she says, she's still a perfect student." He finished, and I chuckled. "Well then, let's go kill some Arachnophobians." I said, flicking a shadow sword out.

_Kage's POV:_

Kid was utterly silent, the only sounds the whooshing of his skateboard and the flapping of my wings. I glanced up at him, then back down towards the forest, dark firs reaching up below us to spike the sky. "Uh, Kid, what are we doing flying into the middle of nowhere like this?" Liz asked, and I sighed soundlessly. "It's not like it was my decision. And I would really rather not talk about it, okay?" he said wearily, and I nodded silently. "Yeah fine, but do you think you could at least give us an idea of where we're going?" she pestered, and he sighed. "Yeah, that's fair enough. We're going to a place called Sarcophagus." I cocked my head, looking up at him curiously. "Sarcophagus?" Liz repeated, and he nodded. "That's right. And it's aptly named too." He said ominously. "And why's that?" she asked. His eyes zoned out, and he seemed to be remembering what his father had told him. "It used to be just an ordinary old village like any other. But that was twenty years ago. Things have changed."

"Changed how?" she asked, and I gulped. "Well, one day, its citizens suddenly disappeared. Every last one of them." Liz squeaked, sweat pouring from her pistol. "What?! How can all those people vanish into thin air!" she whimpered, and I nervously glanced at the rising grey shape ahead of us. "To this day no one knows. The people sent to investigate vanished just like the village's citizens, gone without a trace. After a while the investigation was given up, it would have been too dangerous to continue. The entire area was locked down to prevent further disappearances. That's where we're going." He finished, and I surged upward slightly, letting him view it as it came into view a Reaper or human could see. "There it is. That's Sarcophagus." He murmured, and I nodded.

_**Well, I'm stopping there. I need to do more work on the May and Jay zombie thing. And edit some pictures, and work on my book, and…yeah, I got some stuff to do. Pretty please do reviews? I'm quite pleased that if you change the categories to Angst, Rated T, and sort them by Reviews, this story is on the very first page! Happys! :D But I wanna get it closer, because honestly, how many people search Angst for ANYTHING? So more reviews means easier to find story and a happier me, which also means more chapters for you. Everybody wins! Well, probably not the guy in the closet. YEAH YOU YA PEDDLING IDIOT! Honestly, I've told him again and again, I don't want any pickled yams, but does he listen? NO! So please, Review, request Rcomment. Fend off the pickled yam vendor in the closet! Auf Wedersien!**_


	37. Sarcophagus Red n' Blue

_**Hello all you nice people! This story is really hitting the top…66 reviews, 15 favorites, 17 followers…3,890 views the last time I checked…dang… Yup, this one is definitely my most popular and reviewed story so far. Quite proud of it! *beams* Yes, I'm quite pleased with how this fanfic's turned out. Let's see then…I guess I could name off the favorite people. *shrugs***_

_**Favorited: (also in order of when)**_

_**Great Zero, kirbylovespie, Medusa Gorgon789, .3, Emma-sempai, , Samansa-chan 147, .uchiha-chan, AnimePsycho1, spartarock, Lizzmar, 2blonde4words, Konohakame01, NightmareHomunculus12AF, and lizzyingalls. You are all very nice for favoriting, thank you!**_

_***sighs* The end creeps ever nearer…I don't wanna have this end! But then again, I can work on the May and Jays with May, catch up on my book, which is awesome by the way, maybe do a little reading…yeah. *sniffles* I will be very sad to see all these wonderful characters go into limbo, but some already have.**_

_**Jack: Oy! I heard that!**_

_**GAH! What are you doing out! Back, into limbo you crazy weirdo! Back! *shoves him into a black hole* Grrrr…I hate it when my characters do that. I had the strangest dream last night, it was a creepy old house and Jim Carrey was the owner and there were giant spiders in the basement that were like fire-spewing and you couldn't take anything out of the house otherwise it'd go berserk and cave in on you, and someone else picked up a fork and the house was all like thundery and creaking and the doors to the dining room caved in , and then suddenly I got teleported to some freaky gypsy came and they were all chatting about the demon house and were all just "hey, wazzup?" when I dropped in on them. My reason for telling you this? NONE! I just thought it was an interesting dream to share with you people. I mean, Jim Carrey in a haunted house with flamethrower spiders in the basement. That's interesting people. There were also these rats…I completely forgot what they did now. But it had something to do with spiderwebs… (Again, almost word-for-word anime, so based off of nothing)**_

_Kage's POV:_

Liz shivered, and I could smell the reek of fear drifting from her. It was so thick it was almost _visible._ "See that?" Kid said softly, and she jumped. "That wall was hastily built, almost like the builders were desperately trying to cover something up before anyone saw it." I he said absently, and I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to discern the origin of his…suspicions. "This place is giving me the creeps, maybe we should forget the mission, huh?." Liz said, and Patty giggled. "I HOPE WE SEE A MONSTER!" She shrieked, and Liz yelped. "Don't say stuff like that, are you crazy?!" she barked, and turned to see Kid looking at us. "No, no, no! Not happening, I am not going in there! You know I can't deal with creepy stuff! I even got a doctor's note that specifically says to avoid monsters! You wanna see it? I'll show it to you-" Kid cut her off. "You can calm down, I'm not taking any of you with me." Patty blinked and I cocked my head, confused. "Seriously?" Liz asked, and he turned. "We don't know what caused the disappearances. It could be a monster, or a virus, or maybe even some kind of chemical weapon"

"But one thing we do know for sure, no human who's ever gone in there has made it back out alive. I can't risk taking you guys in there with me, not when I have no idea what we'd be up against. It would simply be too dangerous." He said, turning back to us after looking up at the wall for a moment. "Much as I hate to admit it, you've got a point there." Liz said as patty whined in disappointment. "I'm guessing that's why dad sent me instead of the other meisters. My Reaper body is less vulnerable than most." Liz bit her finger. "Even so this is still dangerous. Why not take Kage, she's not human either?" kid shook his head. "Father wanted her to watch my back, and she can do that fine from out here. I'm not bringing her into more trouble than she knows she can handle right now. And what does it matter, my dad has made his policies on this clear. Our top priority is the magic tools."

"That's what you're after here?" Liz asked, and I shrugged. "If I'm not out in forty minutes, head back for the Academy. Go straight there, you will not come in after me." He said firmly, turning and beginning to walk into the abandoned town. "Kage, why are you being so calm? He's your boyfriend." Liz said in bewilderment as I sat, crossing my legs and taking a deep breath. "Where I come from it is socially unacceptable to show strong emotions, especially during a mission." I said calmly, closing my eyes. "Kid is not going in alone. I will have to trust in his abilities and that is all any of will be able to do." I said, inhaling again. "Besides, if I'm worried, than that means I am not confident in his skills. I must be fully confident in my partner just as they must be fully confident in me. That is the way it works. We will stay out here as our leader has ordered." I added, opening my eyes and gazing levelly up at her.

"Wow…Nightstalker really don't get it easy. All you do is train, train, train, am I right?" she asked, and I closed my eyes. "That is correct. But we become stronger every generation for it. Our bodies are naturally more fit and athletic than most, and we can endure more with less training." I murmured absently, remembering the things from the books in our village. "But now there's almost none of you left. You're a dying race." She said sadly, and I smirked. "It would seem that way. All that happened is we've been set back, oh, about two centuries. We've been decimated down to one man, or one woman before, and the clan has bounced back. All we have to do is initiate witches who have the desire or humans who have the talent, orphans who have the loss. Beggars may not be choosers, but Nightstalker always seem to manage. And with every purge, we gain a new skill from the incomers." I said, and sighed softly as I eased into the shadow world. Liz and Patty were now just souls floating in the stagnant grey air, their shadows in sharp definition on the ground. I waved to them, and they waved back as I darted into the city, finding nothing living.

_But Kid's here somewhere, aren't you? Reapers are always easy to find, and I know him like Akuma. C'mon, show me your soul…ah, there you are._ I latched onto his shadow, and felt his familiar presence all around me. He stopped, and I felt him look down. "Kage?" I opened the shadow's eyes, and smiled at him. _What, you think I was letting you go in alone? Silly boy._ I said, making the shadow waver as I laughed. He smiled a little, but it was quickly replaced with a frown. "I told you not to stress yourself." I rolled my eyes. _The day I can't travel through a shadow is the day I can't remember how to blink. This is my element, where I am strongest and most comfortable. I'm fine Kid. Now go on, I'll be right behind you._ He chuckled, turning and beginning to walk. "I don't doubt it. My shadow always is, isn't it?" he asked, and I smirked. _Always._

_Kid's POV:_

I felt slightly better once I knew I wasn't going in _completely _alone, but I was still nervous about Kage. "How are you doing this?" I asked, walking into a churchlike structure at the bottom of a large crater. _It's quite simple, I've done it even when I was completely human. I detach my consciousness from my body and send it reflecting along every shadow within range until I find what I'm looking for. A human, or Reaper's, shadow is different from those around them because I can sense the soul. If I wanted, I could take over your body right now, but I'd be eating at your soul when I did. We need you to stay sharp for this mission, so I'm staying down here._ She said cheerfully, swaying the shadow under my feet to grin at me before dropping back again.

"Could you please not do that? It's rather disorienting to have your own shadow swaying all over the place." I said, looking away and trying to steady myself. I saw the flickering stop, and she laughed self-consciously. _Sorry Kid. When you're a shadow witch you get used to having a rather…fluid perception. I got quite nauseous myself the first time I saw someone manipulating my shadow. Of course, that may be due to the fact they were trying to impale me with it._ I glanced down at her, then back up again as I swung the flashlight around. "Have any of your teaching experiences not been when someone was trying to hurt or kill you?" She was silent for a moment, then said almost shyly: _Well, my mom taught me how to take care of a cat. That's why I want one, to try and bring back what few happy memories I have of her. And because they're soft and cuddly._

I smiled warmly at her, wanting to hug her but unsure of how I could do that in her present form. _I'll collect my hug later. Focus reaper-boy, you're in hostile territory._ She said repremandingly, tapping my head and then dissolving back into a two-dimensional shadow. "You can read my mind?" I asked, surprised and a little self-conscious. She remained silent for a second, then shrugged defensively. _I could. I don't want to, because that's an invasion of space I've learned is highly embarrassing. DK and Queenie have done so several times, and it is not pleasant to have them know exactly what's been running through your head. But since I'm sort of resonating with you right now, I can't help but pick up some thoughts here and there. Try to box them all in and we'll be fine._ She murmured, and I could have sworn I felt her blush. I suddenly stopped, seeing a large, ball-like structure with some sort of key sticking out of it. "This is the tool?" I asked myself, and Kage shrugged. _Not my forte. Could be, could not be._

I began walking forward, seeing no enemies. "Looks like a key." I murmured, reaching for it. "The biggest key that I've ever seen." I added, grabbing it and yanking it out. "This seems too easy. I just waltz into a deserted city, grab the magic tool, and walk back out again? Maybe it's a fake…" I muttered, examining it. Kage bent my shadow up, looking at it as well. "If so it's a good one. It looks authentic enough to me anyway." I said, and she nodded, looking frustrated. Suddenly several spotlights came on and Kage hissed, eyes raking the room as she swayed just behind my shoulder. There was a flourish and a drumroll, and I flicked my gaze to where a mysterious clicking, grinding noise was coming from. Kage turned as well. Some kind of…_clown_ stepped out into the light, although it was certainly the most grotesque clown I'd ever seen. It chuckled mechanically, and Kage hissed. _Kid, I can't do anything but observe from here. You need to get out now!_ She shrieked in my mind, and I gritted my teeth.

The clown suddenly lunged, and I jumped, avoiding the blow. It pounced at me again, and I barely managed to clear the sweeping arch of its claw. "Damnit." I managed to mutter before it was on me again. I jumped onto the claw and I swiped at me with its other hand before I flipped over its body, landing on the ground. "I guess this is the security system guarding the tool." I murmured, and Kage nodded rapidly. It turned to me, and its head tilted with a click. "Are you qualified?" I blinked, and Kage frowned. "Do you have what it takes to wield the magic tool?" It asked, and I pointed at it. "Creepy clown, who are you? What are you doing here? Where you the one that destroyed the village? Answer me." I said, and the clown clicked again. Its face suddenly split, and I blinked.

The two halves cracked and withdrew, and the real clown's face was revealed, instead of the mask it had been using. "What am I doing here? I prevent meddlesome humans from entering the place, or from leaving it alive at least, I destroy all who touches the magic tool." It said gleefully, and I growled. "You're responsible for what happened twenty years ago!" It grinned. "That is correct. I protect the resting place of the last magic tool." Kage nudged my silently, but I stood my ground. "You killed them all because of the tool?!" It leered, and an unpleasant laugh echoed from somewhere inside it. "Those foolish humans. They dug up this ruin twenty years ago, and discovered the tool. They weren't qualified to wield it either. So I ate them. I ate them all. They were delicious." It said, and a trickle of drool ran out of its mouth. "All trespassers must die. That includes you too." It said, clicking. "Snack time!" it snarled, opening its claw-arm and lunging as I jumped. "You won't make a meal out of me that easily." I called down to it from the center pole, and then jumped again, up to the stairs. "Running are you? I won't let you get far…" it called back, crouching on all fours like a spider.

_C'mon Kid, once you get out of the city I can start helping, but so far from my own original body I can't do anything but watch!_ Kage shouted, sounding worried as I ran along the stone causeway. I stopped in the archway of the stairs, smirking at the clown. "With a huge body like that he'll never be able to squeeze in after me. What a poorly designed security system…" I muttered, turning and walking back up. I stopped, turning back to see the clown try to jam its body through the archway. "Aw, are you stuck?" I taunted it, and it suddenly wiggled forward, body squeezing together like a snakes. _KID RUN!_ Kage shouted, breaking me from my stunned silence as the clown shot towards us. "Not good!" I gasped, running up the stairs with the clown in hot pursuit. I made it to the very top of the steeple and jumped out as the clown became stuck in the bell tower. I didn't stop, running all the way up out of the crater and pausing at the top as Kage curled off the ground, looking worried as she swayed around me.

"Close one, but I did it. Now I just have to get back to you guys…" I said, stepping forward and grunting as my foot became caught in something. _Kid! Watch out!_ Kage shrieked as I looked down to see another clown's hand on my ankle. "There are two?! Didn't seeing that coming!" I screamed as I was flung into a nearby building, the clown tearing itself free of the ground and leering at me. _KID! Wake up!_ Kage shouted in my head, weak nudges pushing at my body as I raised my head, seeing the clowns approaching me. "Chow time." They said in unison, and I gritted my teeth._ Kage?_ No answer, and I felt her comforting aura flee. "Wait!" I shouted, but she didn't seem to hear me.

_Kage's POV:_

"Oink, oink, oink. Oink, oink, oink. Kid sure is taking his time huh?" Patty asked as I drew my mind back in, vision blurring and then reforming into the familiar colors of the real world. Liz jumped at her words, and I cricked my neck, easing out the aches as I stood, seeing Patty drawing a picture of a pig in the dust. "There's no reason to worry, it might take a while but I'm sure everything will be hunky-dory. If anyone can do it it's our meister. Do it Kid, I believe in you!" she shouted at the wall, and Patty sighed. "But just to be safe, maybe we should go in there and check up on him?" she asked. "Wh-wha…What are you kidding me?! We'd be nuts to go into some place as creepy as that do you have a death wish or something!?" she yelped, and Patty beamed. "It'll be fine, I say we go in after him." Liz's eyebrow twitched. "Seriously? Were you listening to a _thing_ I just said?" she growled, and Patty blinked. "Of course I was. You said something about a pig, right?"

"DON'T YOU EVER LISTEN WHEN I TALK-" Liz began to roar, but an explosion from the city cut her off. "What's that?" Patty asked, and she stuck both fingers in her ears. "What's what? I don't know what you're talking about! I didn't hear anything nothing at all!" I sighed, walking past them. "Huh? Kage, what happened to "must be fully confident in my partner" and "we will stay out here as our leader has ordered"? Where are you going?' Liz asked, and I turned back to them. "I was monitoring Kid. The enemy he is currently facing is too much for his skills. I am going to lend my partner my support. You can come, or stay, that's your decision and I won't fault you either way. But Nightstalker do not abandon their own." I said firmly, turning back and walking into the city, breaking into a run the second they were out of view.

_Kid's POV:_

_Oww…_ I propped myself up on my elbows, spitting out some blood. "The destructive power of true beauty…" I mumbled to myself, cursing the clowns symmetrical poses and forms. I staggered upright, once again running for the fence. The red clown swiped at me and I ducked and dodged his blow, keeping my momentum. _A little further…just to that building…I can reach Kage from there…_ the red clown popped up, swinging an underhand blow that I had no chance of avoiding, knocking me off my feet and slamming me into the pavement. I coughed, heaving my tired, battered body upright once more. _How does Kage shake this off in the middle of a battle? It's unbelievable… _"Give it back! Hand over the magic tool!" the clowns ordered in unison, opening their claw arms and stalking towards me. Suddenly a familiar attack whipped over my head, knocking them both away. I turned, and Kage grinned at me. "What would you do without me?" she asked, casually winding the shadows back into her hands and closing them. "Hyah Kid, how are ya!" Patty shouted, waving happily. She cocked Liz, grinning. "We just came to check on you."

I blinked. "You came after me?" Kage grinned. "Nightstalker don't abandon their own, silly boy." She said affectionately, putting both hands on her hips. Liz flashed onto her pistol. "Sure, what else would we do?" I smirked at her. "Not so scared of creepy monsters?" she grinned sheepishly, giggling a little. Patty chuckled, but they were cut off by the blue clown, who swiped at her as she ducked and staggered back. The red one went after Kage, and she scowled, guarding with her shadows and flipping backwards until she was even with Liz and Patty. I hissed, jumping to my feet and running for them. "Now Patty!" I yelled as she dodged the red and blue's blows as Kage guarded her. "Okay! On it!' she giggled, flashing pink and jumping into my hand as Kage backed away, standing beside me. I jumped from the clowns attack, facing away from them. "You had no right to destroy this village. You're going to pay for that." I said, bending backwards and aiming both guns at the clowns.

"Are you ready for your punishment?!" I shouted, opening fire as they both gritted their teeth and raised their arms. "Shadow take shadow steal shadow make shadow real." Kage muttered quickly beside me. "Cat o' nines!" she shouted, whipping the shadows around in a practiced crack of movement, lashing across both clowns and skidding off them just like my own attack. They split up, and I growled, firing and twisting under the attack of the blue clown as Kage held my back, moving with me and keeping the clowns out of my blind spot. "Hand it over, hand it over, HAND IT OVER NOW!" the red clown snarled, charging at us as I shot and jumped, Kage flicking her shadows across his face and following, just barely avoiding his attack. "These guys aren't easy." I muttered, and Kage nodded. "_This is bad Kid, our shots won't go through!_" Liz said from my hand, and Kage bit her lip. "I can't summon anything else in the amount of time we have. Maybe if I had a couple seconds to focus…" she murmured, looking impatiently at her hands.

"What now?" I murmured, lowering my guns and closing my eyes. Kage sighed, chanting her mantra again. "Shadow take shadow steal shadow make shadow real. String shot shadow." She whispered, and there was a sudden twang as the clowns halted. Kage's arms were outstretched as hundreds of tiny shadows sprung from her hands, looping around the clowns and binding them neatly like a spider's web. Sweat trickled down her face as her eyes narrowed with effort, her arms trebling slightly as the clowns strained, writhed, and heaved, trying to free themselves from the clinging strands. "Kid, think of something fast…" she murmured, clenching her teeth as several loud snaps were heard. I blinked. _Of course._ "Kage, release and then run. Follow my lead." I said, and she nodded, backing away as the clowns managed to shrug the shadows off, failed spell dripping like rain to the ground as the shadows merged with their original hosts.

She instantly followed as I whirled away, landing on the rooftops and dancing along them, surging upwards to the Ferris wheel and landed on the very top, hiding my hands behind my back as I began to resonate. "_Resonance Stable. Noise: 2.7%._" Liz said, and Patty nodded. "_Black needles are fully charged with Soul Wavelength._" She giggled, and Kage narrowed her eyes as the clowns approached us. "_Feedback ready. In five seconds…_" Liz murmured, and Patty clapped her hands. "_Four._" Liz. "_Three._" Patty. "_Two!_" Liz. "_One._" Patty giggled. "_Ready to fire!_" The clowns were right next to us now. "Symmetry. At least your _end_ with be beautiful." I said quietly as they lunged, opening their mouths. I shoved Liz and Patty in the clowns' mouths and raised my head. "Death Cannon." I said firmly, and they blew apart. "Now then. Let's get out of here." Kage said, standing as pieces of the clowns rained down upon us.

_**Whew, all done for this chapter. It's a nice, long chapter, quit your complaining. Uh, Samansa-chan-147, the town of S**__**arcophagus**____**is anime ONLY. I've read up to Book 15 in the manga and there is no mention of it anywhere. ANYWHERE. Oddly enough, the whole mission has no mention. Also, did you know Medusa just possessed Arachne's body? It's strange…and a little creepy. I mean her hair's BLACK! Oh, just Google it if you really wanna know. Also, I hate Noah. (not the guy from the bible, different Noah) Stupid Kid-kidnapping jerk, who's trying to assassinate Maka and killed BJ and framed Stein for it and turned Justin to the dark side and - oh, wait, that's probably a little spoilerish. Sorry. *sheepish* It doesn't happen in the anime! But for manga, I kinda did just hit you with some spoilers…sorry… At least I didn't tell you what happens to Crona! *sniffles* I'm sorry, I can't even think of the poor guy/girl anymore without crying… WHY CRONA WHY?! Anyway, my sobfest aside, please do review, I want this up for all to see! You want other people to discover this awesomeness, right? So review then! Review, Request, Rcomment, to be exact. Auf Wedersien!**_


	38. Great Wizard Eibon

_**Most terribly sorry for the delay yesterday, I got sucked into a plotbunny and then some other stuff, and my dad commandeered the computer for most of today, like, until lunch. *sad face* So I gotta do this quick! Okay, I'm gonna write down how many people have viewed this, and then I'm gonna check again tomorrow after I posted this. Right now, there are 4,176 views to this story. Right, let's get on this. (Based off of a Dance With the Devil AMV)**_

_Death the Kid's POV:_

Kage landed beside me as we jumped down from the Ferris wheel, shadows curling around her and slowing her decent. I started walking along the street, seeing scattered pieces of the clowns, sparking and fizzling. I passed the shattered torso of the red clown, and heard a faint metallic voice. "_…unable to activate auto recovery. System down, not responding. Estimated damage received, 92%. Activation time remaining, three minutes._" It sat up, and I turned, bringing Liz and Patty up as Kage scowled and whipped her shadows around us. "It moved?! What now…" I muttered, and there was a fuzzy, static noise coming from the clown. Then a new voice said "_You who have defeated this guardian, hear me now._" The clown's head turned towards us, and I surprised a shiver. _It's different from the voce before…what's going on?_ Kage cocked her head, letting the shadows once again fall limp to the ground."_This is a warning. Before you proceed, make certain you have the will to use the magic tool you now posses. For those who are not qualified, there will be no glory. Only destruction awaits._"

The dull red glow in the remaining eye faded out, and the clown sagged, becoming dead to the world. "Maybe he's right." I said quietly, and Liz jerked. "Huh?" I didn't answer, staring at the robot. _How can we know for certain that the course we follow is better than the one our enemies have chosen? Who can promise that the Academy will never use the magic tools with evil intent?_ I thought, and Kage gently gripped my shoulder. "C'mon Kid. Those thought lead to bad times and bad places." She said softly, letting go and walking out, the shadows on the ground tugging after her slightly before falling back to their positions determined by the sun. I followed, letting Liz and Patty transform and emerging into the harsh "daylight" of the Kishin's cloud of madness. I squatted down with the others to examine the tool more closely. "So that's it? The thing we were sent here to find?" Liz asked, and I nodded, bringing it closer.

"Yes, and given the level of security set up around it I'd say my dad's not the only one who thinks it's important. Kage?" I asked, handing it to her. She peered closer, unfocusing her eyes a little, apparently looking at something only she could see. "It's authentic, I can tell you that much. But these symbols…the Nightmare Queen specialized in a different section of this alphabet. They have something to do with binding and releasing, but who or what I can't tell you." She said, handing it back. "…'Kay…so what's your father planning to use it for?" Liz asked, and I shrugged. "That I don't know yet." _If I did know, things would be much simpler._ Liz and Patty watched me for a second, and Patty laughed. "What that robot-thing said, is it still bothering you?" Liz asked, and I hung my head. "Yeah, it is." I murmured dully. _Because of that, I'm not sure handing this over to my dad is the right thing to do._ The red clown's voice echoed in my head. _**This is a warning. For those who are not qualified, there will be no glory. Only destruction awaits.**_ Kage nudged me unexpectedly, almost bowling me over.

"C'mon Kid, don't think about that stuff. I can think of a lot worse people to get their hands on this, like Medusa or Arachne. Jack, or maybe even myself. I did used to be the Nightmare Queen after all." She said impatiently, and I looked up at her. A flash of black, red irises, and my own eyes widened as hers faded back to their natural coloring. "Yeah…" I said, smiling up at her. She grinned, and I saw a flash of sharpened teeth before they dulled and it was once again her normal, _human_ smile as I stood, summoning Beelzebub and hopping on as Liz and Patty transformed, catching them as Kage cast her Shade-wings spell, ragged wings barely even catching my attention as we shot back towards the DWMA.

_Akuma's POV:_

"_Target secure?_" I grinned, swallowing the last of the yummy Kishin souls and burped, then looked down at my communicator. "Arachne's big bad bug zapper is out of commission here in Europe!" I said happily, grinning at Azusa as she did her glasses-glare thing at me. "_Enough of your clowning DK…Akuma, whatever the hell you name is!_" she snapped in exasperation. "_The targets in the Middle East and Oceania are under our control as well. Move on to the next and eliminate it._" I gave her a razor sharp salute. "Aye aye captain!" I shouted, winking at the communicator before turning it off. _So…where next?_ DK asked, leisurely stretching and scratching our nose. "Well…the Africa mission was fun." I said absently, sprouting some wings and launching myself into the sky.

_Kage's POV:_

I walked behind Kid, stopping just behind him. He, Liz, and Patty were staring up at the school, but I was watching him closely. His gaze shifted down to the magic tool he held in one hand, and his grip tightened suddenly. "Hey Kid, you should see this!" Patty said as I tensed, feeling an incoming soul. "What Patty?" he asked, looking back up, and she pointed. "There! I wonder what it is?" She said, and there was a white flash as _he_ zoomed up and past us, teleporting to the Death Room. "Ugh, let's just go already…" I groaned, pushing past them and stalking up the steps, hands in my pockets. "Ah, back from…the you-know-what?" A man asked, putting a hand to his radio. I nodded as Kid and his weapons came up behind me. "Right, you're to go straight down to the secret vault. Good luck!" he said, giving us the thumbs up as we walked down, down, deep into the bowels of the DWMA. I grinned as the darkness closed in, being vainly fought by weak bracket lamps in iron holders. _Dark is good. Dark is shadows. Shadows are my element._

"Hey Kid, do you recognize this place?" Liz asked as we halted in front of a huge pair of doors. "Yeah…the so-called contractor's working in there." He said, and I blinked. "The what? I though Lord Death kept…never mind." I said sheepishly as they all looked at me sharply. _I keep forgetting they don't know how much I know and how much of it was dangerous to them._ Patty laughed as he shifted his gaze to the doors and walked forward, shoving it open as Liz, Patty, and I followed silently. "You did a great job Kid! And Kage, you too! Thanks for taking on that mission for your old man!" Lord Death said happily as we came in, and Kid nodded dully. "Hi there cutie!" Three women who lacked in adequate tops chirped, including Blair. I bared my teeth at them in silent warning and he nudged me, giving me an amused and warning look as I flushed and looked at the ground. "The magic tool please." A blonde man with three strange stripes in his hair said, holding his hand out expectantly. "Here it is…" Kid said flatly, holding it out as I narrowed my eyes. _Something about that tone…_

Just as the man was about to grab it, Kid jerked his hand back so he kept the tool. "Before I hand it over, I want to know everything that's been going on." He said, holding it behind his back as I grinned in pleasure at his devious maneuver. _We're rubbing off on him, the poor kid!_ I thought proudly, beaming a little. "What exactly does this magic tool do…and why do you want it?" he asked warily, and there was a moment of silence as I came up behind him to back his claim. "Oh…alright!" Lord Death said suddenly, and I blinked. "Whoa, hold on a second!" Kid said, snatching the tool father away. "You've been so secretive, a-and so dodgy, and now you're going to tell me just because I ask! What's going on here I don't understand! Why would you-" The blonde put a large hand on kid's shoulder, steadying him from his increasingly hysterical rant. "Sorry about that. But we really couldn't let just anybody know what we were doing. It had to be a secret operation." He said calmly, letting go. "You get it? We had to make sure our plan was kept from Arachne and Kishin. Others as well, whom I can't name…" he pointed at me in accusation.

Used to it, I shrugged. "Yeah yeah, I'd have done the same in your position." I said, throwing my hands up in the air absently as I spoke. "Oh really? So then we've been suspicious for no reason?" Liz said, putting a hand on her head. Patty laughed. "We're pretty stupid huh?!" She shrieked, holding her stomach as Kid slumped. "But now, we've got the magic tool on our hands, so we can afford to be a bit more open." The man said, and the three girls nodded. "Mm hmm!" kid twitched and brought his head up again. "Okay, so tell me what it does then!" he said frantically, and Lord Death somehow extended his arm, grabbing the tool from kid's hands. "This little guy…" he said, swinging it a little in front of our faces. "-was Eibon's final creation." He stopped, holding it point down. "You see, Eibon _is_ the last magic tool." As he said this, the key began to glow a soft blue-white, the symbols only someone of my or Lord Death's eyesight could see starting to glow and swirl. I smacked my head. _Now I get it, he sealed himself inside there and made sure nobody could tamper with Brew unless he wanted it! Or something like that anyway…_ I thought as the glow condensed in a single drop at the end of the key, plinking onto the floor.

The concrete _rippled_, a watery pillar swooshing upward to form a man in the strangest getup I had ever seen, and I lived in a town full of undead, demons, and ghosts. (Well, I _had_ anyway.) It was hard to tell where apparel began and person ended. He had a scarf, and some sort of robe thing. Other than that I was totally, totally lost. "It's been a long time…great wizard Eibon." Lord Death said, and I narrowed my eyes. "Yes Lord Death. And…Nightmare Queen." I stepped forward. "Actually, I am in control sir. She remembers you with somewhat an affectionate heart, if it means anything." He chuckled a little. "Meaning she won't rip me apart unless she has a "good" reason. Very well then." Lord Death coughed a little to bring attention back to himself. "Sorry, but we don't have time to catch up. I want you to lend me Brew's power." I blinked._ Brew…Queenie knows that tool! Oh…so that's what it does? What does Lord Death –the Reaper- want with that kind of magic tool?!_

_**Did anyone know that in the actual manga they don't show Eibon at all? Well, they haven't **_yet_**, they might later, but so far any appearance made by him is anime-only? Cool right? I mean, there's that one guy in the golfer's cap who SAYS he's Eibon (he's lying), and The Index, but other than that, Eibon is a no-show. *shrugs* So far I'm still liking the anime better, because it ends better (and just plain ends) and there are several things that would be spoilers in the manga that do not happen in the anime, although there are some characters that have not been shown in the anime, which is frankly a pity. (For instance, did anybody know that the Death Scythe in charge of South America is some sort of bear-dude with a monkey for a meister? Name's Tezca Tlipoca and he's the "Demon Mirror") Anyway, got some other stuff to do, Review Request Rcomment, all that jazz. Auf Wedersien! **_

_**PS: It has been three days since I posted this chapter, and you will not get another one until ONE of the 4,327 people who have read this does just a single tiny review. I mean, seriously, three days and absolutely nobody's done anything. I can't output without some input!**_


	39. Punch! Kick! Duck?

_**Well, **_someone_** reviewed. All of you thank Emma-sempai and Samansa-chan147 very nicely for helping me continue this fanfic. Sorry about being late after they showed me support, but just as I deigned (look it up) to write again, my family "borrowed" the computer, dragged me to the state fair, and just generally interrupted my writing time(also I got sidetracked into Chapter Two of the zombie fanfic, which is now published). But seriously, someone needed to show me my efforts were appreciated. Oh, I just made a poll so you guys can tell me who's your favorite character, Hellsing or otherwise. So pleased! Personally, DK's my favorite all the way, he's just so funny! But I like Kage too, and Meva (she's a Hellsing OC) is so awesome…and of course Zara ('nother Hellsing) is my very first OC ever, and…they're all equals in my mind. It is important to note I did include May, "Jay", and Mack, but they are not technically OCs (except Mack), they are our alter-egos. Yes, we actually do act like that upon occasion, mainly A) When we're bored, B) When we enter into an obscure conversation and lose track of what we were talking about, C) When we have a case of the ebiles(lolcats version of evil, replace V with B and it makes it cute), and D) When we try and find a reason for why anime characters do things or act certain ways. For instance…does anyone know the whole "Tic Tack toe" hand game, the one used to choose things? Well, we were bored at our cousin's wedding, and this new version was born.**_

_**(Original) "Tic Tack Toe, gimme an X, gimme an O, gimme a three-in-a-row! Rock-paper-scissor-show!"**_

_**(Our crazy version) "Tic Tack Toe, gimme a flak, gimme a glow, gimme-some-nitro. Scratch-light-fuse -blow!" **_

_**The Tic-Tack-Toe part is completely normal, and for the rock-paper-scissor/scratch-light-fuse part, you do the motions behind your back, you know how to play that. For those who don't get the references, flak is the technical term for shrapnel when in the air, glow is obvious, and nitro is short for nitroglycerin, a highly explosive lighter fluid. You get the rest, right? Yeah…don't get bored when your alter-ego's name is May/Jay at a wedding, or in fact anywhere else. It leads to bad, crazy, awesome things.**_

_Kage's POV:_

There was a long silence after Lord Death asked the question. Then- "Why do you need Brew's?" Eibon asked neutrally. Lord Death looked sheepish as he turned fully around, facing him. "Well, thanks the Kishin and that spider witch, we're in a bit of a pickle!" he said, throwing his hands up. "Asura and Arachne?" Eibon asked, and Lord Death sighed. "Father." Kid said, and he looked over at his son. "Tell me how you, Kage, and Eibon know each other." He asked briskly, and Lord Death nodded. "That's a good question. I guess it might be helpful if I explain some of our history…it's been a long time, but Eibon, myself and the Nightmare Queen used to fight side by side. They were members of my elite guard squadron. They both knew the Kishin Asura well." I winced at the memories as Kid narrowed his eyes. "It's hard to believe now, but they were comrades once." Kid frowned. "If he was one of yours, then why did he create the magic tools? And why did the Nightmare Queen turn?"

Lord Death tapped the side of his head. "Hmm…well…there was a lot going on back then…" he murmured, and Kid sweatdropped. "What a great explanation, thank you." Lord Death patted the top of his head, thinking. "How should I put it…well, he always loved playing with machines…and she was a little sneaky…" Kid rolled his eyes. "Yes, very helpful." He muttered. "Aw jeez. Well…his original goal was to protect and preserve order in the world. That's why he began his research into magic tools. Obviously for any object of great power, there are always those who are willing to risk anything to obtain that power. And of course the more powerful the object is, the greater the danger of it falling into the wrong hands. Eibon knew all this, but he had faith in humanity, so he continued his research nonetheless. Eventually, his work took on a more narrow focus. He began studying one area exclusively. It became an obsession." Kid blinked as I frowned, reading a new soul. "What area was that?" he asked, and I heard a cane being thunked down on the concrete.

"Immortality." Excalibur said firmly, and we all turned. "Hello weird guy!" Blair and her friends chirped, and I groaned. "Huh! What kind of greeting is that?" He snorted, and Kid gritted his teeth. "AHHHHHHHH! NO! What's Excalibur doing here?!" he shouted, and the Holy Sword jabbed his cane into Kid's face. "Fool! Why wouldn't I be here?" he retorted, and I sighed. "Him again?" Liz asked, and Patty giggled and pointed. "Ooh, the funny alien guy! This should be interesting!" she chirped, and Excalibur raised his head, a tear glimmering in the corner of his freaky fake-looking eye. "It was not idle curiosity that lead to Eibon's immortality research." He kneeled suddenly, cane slamming down on the floor. "Indeed, the true reason is much more tragic! His wife lay dying; Eibon's obsession with immortality was born because he desperately sought to save his beloved. But no matter how great the inventor or how noble the cause, transcending death is an impossible feat. Not even Eibon could hope to succeed in such an endeavor. But when all seemed lost, someone appeared by his side, offering help and comforting words. That someone was; _the witch Arachne_!"

Blair and the others were crying, but Kid merely narrowed his eyes. "And the Nightmare Queen?" Excalibur turned to me. "Little is known about you in your previous life. The province of shadows is always hidden from the untaught and unwary. Many years passed in which they disappeared altogether, gone without a trace. Rumors were swapped, but in truth no one knew where the two Great Old Ones would go." My memories shifted and flowed, and I grimaced, remembering what had transpired so many hundreds of years ago. "Who knows what sights they saw, alone in the woods for months on end? Who knows what twisted visions they conjured and caught? What gruesome rituals they learned and participated in? Whose knowledge they took and whose they destroyed? But one thing was always crystal clear to the other warriors. Every trip was a cost to their compatriots."

I winced, chaffing my upper shoulder as memories flowed thick and fast, like tears. "Yes, the true reason for the Nightmare Queen and Demon King's insanity is almost a poetic justice. The Nightstalker were always shrewd bargainers, weren't they?" I gave a stiff nod as everyone looked at me. "And so Fear and Anger were reborn. The Nightstalker blackmailed the two Kishin Great Old Ones into doing their bidding until it became too much and the clan was slaughtered. But not all, never all. Some escaped, and they took their story to us. Thus were the newest Kishin hunted down and killed." He stood again as Blair and the others sobbed harder. "C'mon, is this guy for real?" Liz asked, bending down to glare at Excalibur. "I can't be sure! It's a heart-rending tale, but what if it's nothing but another manipulation?!" I gritted my teeth. "I assure you it's not." I said stiffly, and they all looked at me as I folded my arms defiantly. "The Nightmare Queen and Demon King were blackmailed into becoming the Nightstalkers spirit guardians and they killed most of them in revenge." I snarled, and Lord Death nodded.

"Eibon and Arachne joined forces. They combined his research into immortality with her research on magic weapons, and from that, the magic tool Brew came into being." He focused his gaze on the Holy Sword. "You have a habit of popping up at unexpected times Excalibur. Why are you here now? Did you come to see Eibon or the Nightmare Queen?" Excalibur shook his head. "Hah! That's just a bonus. My reason goes a great deal deeper than that." He snorted, and Lord Death blinked. "Oh? You're here to help us out then?" Guess what Excalibur said? "Fool! That isn't it. I've come to _observe_." He said as we all turned to watch Eibon reach towards Brew. "Now…let's begin." He started to glow, and I bowed my head once. "Brew. Unlock." He said firmly, and the device glowed brighter, before expanding outward suddenly with a click.

_Akuma's POV:_

"YAAAAHOOOOOO!" I shouted, blasting through the Arachnophobian forces as DK's shadows trailed in our wake. I landed on the machine, starting to pound into it with my bare fists as he held off the enemy. The madness pressed down on both our minds, making my head hurt yet again as he snarled wordlessly, compensating with an extra hard shadow cut that sent souls scattering all around us. I suddenly caved it in, and the device exploded, flinging the both of us off into the sand. I sat up, spitting the gritty stuff out as DK grinned, summoning the floating orbs to us. I eagerly slurped them down as the other DWMA forces approached, taking command as I lazily stretched, enjoying the nice heat after the chilly night air of Europe. "_Target secure?_" I beamed at her as I chomped the last glowing soul and swallowed. "Yup. By the way, is my sister back yet?" I asked, and she scowled and nodded.

"Well then we better hurry up and get these relay stations down so we can go and say hi!" I said, clicking it off before she could protest and lunging into the sky, exchanging a quick wave with the people on the ground before blasting off, wind thundering in my ears. _Right, so the madness thingies are out of commission in Africa, Europe, Oceana, and the Middle East. That leaves two left. I know that one is in Arachne's castle, so that means…_ DK said, grinning as I cackled, soaring up higher. "The next one's right by our home turf! Alrighty then, let's go go go!" I shouted, power-thrusting through the air as the shadows became sharper and more streamlined.

_***Time Skip***_

_Punch. Kick. Duck!_ No, seriously, aquatic waterfowl. I growled, fleeing desperately as my airborne enemies gave chase. "Bad ducks! Bad ducks!" I shouted at them, dodging the punishing wingbeats and sharp nips they tried to hit me with. _Why do they hate us so much?!_ DK screamed, covering his head and curling into himself as they pecked at our nose. "I DON'T KNOW!" I screeched back, tumbling from the sky and leveling out by the ground, trying desperately to outfly the evil critters._ Did we eat duck recently? I don't remember…and we didn't do anything to provoke them, did we?_ He asked as we gained some ground, then yelped as a duck smacked into our shoulder. "We did break the sound barrier just in the middle of their flock. Perhaps they took exception." I retorted, slapping it away by doing a barrel roll, but exposing our stomach as they nipped and flapped their wings at us. _THAT'S IT!_ He roared, morphing the shadows into a grenade launcher and aiming it over our shoulder.

"No no no! Just leave them be and fly faster!" I urged, demonstrating. _We're eating roast duck tonight!_ He snarled, firing rapidly over my shoulder as I jerked and bobbed from the recoil. Smoldering feathers rained down upon us, and he grinned, letting the grenade launcher dissolve into shadows. _See? Problem solved._ He said, proudly smirking as I rolled my eyes. "Yes, thank you for altering every enemy for a thousand miles where we are." I said acidly, causing him to lose the grin. _Oh shut up. Its not like they're right above us or anything, so we're fine._ He snapped back, folding his arms in a childish pout as I gritted my teeth, wanting to hit him but obviously unable. Suddenly the trees cleared out, and I stared as anti-aircraft cannons, machine guns, and a whole busload of explosive things DK would kill to own were aimed at us from the Arachnophobian's lair. At that moment, for the first time, DK and I were in agreement and unison.

"Oh crap."

_Oh crap._

_**Dun, dun, dadum! Yup, 'nother cliffhanger. Well, I feel unappreciated. *pouts* Nobody was reviewing. *sighs* I got an app on my IPad for school so I can read Hellsing manga and Hellsing the Dawn manga. That'll be fun in the middle of the school year. Anytime I want to kick back and relax during free time, I can watch a crazy anti-hero slaughter vampires and the occasional humans with ginormous pistols and his bare hands. So pleased! Although it's not the best, I saw that the translator's goofed for the electronic version, because Integra is Integral. Excuse me! Only the lame anime (I watch the OVA) says that! Her name is not Integral Wingates Hellsing, it's Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing! Yeah I didn't even have to look it up, I know it by heart. XP Anyway, on from my rants. Uhh…I got nothing but rants. Oh, when I went to the state fair yesterday, I bought a tube of henna and the day before high school (shudder here) starts, I'm going to dye my nails with it and then see how long it takes before its gone, then see what the date is. (Henna takes anywhere from a few days to several weeks to fade out, but on your nails it will freaking stay until the nail itself grows out. No lie. I've done it to myself before.) Well then, **_REVIEW_**! Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien! **_


	40. Stretched

_**Wow, forty chapters. This is now the longest fanfic I've ever made, since the previous one, Meva Avem Whatever, was thirty chapters. I'm trying to draw this out as long as I can, so I can keep the fresh chapters coming for a longer length of time. Again, it would be so incredibly boss if I ended this sometime in October, and it would be awesome beyond all imagination if I finished and posted the last chapter on Halloween. I mean seriously, how cool would that be?! Think about it! But anyway, I'm going to be slowing down because this is the last week of summer vacation and in high school, I'm probably going to only get one chapter out per week because of homework. So all I need to do is choose a day…meh, I'll see what's good for my schedule. So now all I have to do is make this last four or five more chapters, and only do one chapter per week. I can do this. *deep breaths* I can do this, I can do this, I can do this. *stops taking deep breaths* Hehe, it was getting so hard to remember which chapter had which content I just named them all. Weird, right? Well, better get on this then.**_

_Kage's POV:_

I blinked, squinting a little in the bright light from Brew as it unlocked. Kid nudged his arm around my shoulders and I leaned into him slightly in gratitude. "It begins." Excalibur said calmly, and I scowled at him in reflex, even though he was actually being rather sane right now. "What's it doing?" Kid whispered, seeing the metal expand and flex inside the little hollow Lord Death and this weird guy evidently had built. "It's getting bigger and bigger!" Blair squealed as Patty gasped. "Look closely everyone. This is Eibon's ultimate creation. The magic tool Brew is assuming its true form." Excalibur said, and I blinked again as it settled into a door, locking into the crevice like a hand in a glove, snugly locking in with a clunk. Eibon raised a hand, and it clicked like a key ring as the metal rod he had been imprisoned in lifted up, glowing softly as well. He made a motion, and it slammed into the door like an arrow from a bow, then turned to us as the bright tubes on either side powered down.

"Lord Death, the tool is ready." He said calmly, and he nodded slightly. "Thank you Eibon." He said politely, and Kid butted in again. "Dad, what exactly _is_ Brew's power? What does it do?" I turned as well, wanting to hear the answer. "Brew is a unique device. Its power lies in its ability to take whatever form its wielder most desires." He explained, and I raised an eyebrow. "How is that possible?" Kid muttered, looking back at the tool. "It becomes tuned to the wielder's soul. Brew measures the strength of that soul's desire, and alters itself accordingly." The constructor said, and I nodded._ Sounds right. Our spies way back when were really good!_ "And there inlies it's most fearsome power. If used the wrong way, Brew could destroy the entire world." Excalibur said, and I scowled in his direction._ He doesn't have to sound as if he's warning __**me**__. I know better._ "Brew's power terrified even its creator. To protect it to falling into the wrong hands, he locked the device and bound his own soul to the key." Lord Death added, and Kid blinked.

"Which means…the key to the magic tool…is Eibon's soul itself. Without the presence of it's creator, Brew's power can never be activated." He murmured, and I grinned, appreciating the sneakiness of that plan. "Lord Death, as you predicted, my research led to nothing but grief and sorrow in the end." Eibon said softly, and I frowned a little. "The death of friendship. Betrayal. Involvement with Witches. And…the loss of the one I loved most." He muttered, almost to himself, as if remembering. "Now at least, I can make amends for my misdeeds by helping you." He said, rising what I thought was his head and not a mask, but again, with this guy, it was hard to tell where person ended and clothes began. "Do you remember what you said to me, all those years ago?" I gritted my teeth, looking down. Queenie had snuck close, and heard everything that day. _Even if you triumph over death, you'll find nothing but grief and sorrow._ "For the first time, I understand what you meant." Eibon said quietly, and I narrowed my eyes.

"Eibon…" Lord Death murmured as he floated up and spread his arms, glowing softly. The door unlocked, swinging forward as Eibon was pulled back. "Save the world." He finished, brightening until he hurt my eyes and dissolving into the door. "Fool." Excalibur proclaimed softly, and I rolled my eyes. _Of course he couldn't remain lucid for any length of time._ The entire contraption suddenly glowed in a flash, then dissolved, and I heard the beep of a communicator. "_Lord Death, do you copy?!_" Azusa said urgently, and we all looked around. "_We have a situation! The enemy has a new weapon. At this rate we can't hold on much longer, the Nightstalker are the only reason we aren't being absolutely massacred! DK, Akuma, whatever, he's disappeared from our scopes!_" I shrugged. "He'll be fine." I told the room in a sulky mutter, and Lord Death flexed slightly. "Well, looks like we're going to have to speed things up a bit." He walked forward, and I heard Liz say "I never seem to know what to say in situations like this." Patty cocked her head. "But you just said something didn't you?"

Liz sweatdropped. "That's true, I did. Okay, I'll shut up." She put her mouth on her hand and Patty mimicked her. "Yeah! So will I!" I narrowed my eyes with Kid as we nervously moved closer and he wrapped an arm around my waist. Lord Death flexed again, cracking his knuckles. "Alright! Let's get this party started shall we?" he said grimly, stretching them above his heads and then squinting. He made a grinding, grating motion, and a weird yellow glow sprouted up under his…self? Whatever. Around his body. "What's happening?" Kid muttered, and I flexed my fingers, calling wire-thin shadows to me just in case. I quickly spread my awareness through all the fleeting, scuttling shadows of Death City, the broken fragments of images quickly sifted and pieced together as my jaw dropped open. _The city…is MOVING?!_

My eyes snapped open to see Lord Death with some kind of cockpit-mirror station, complete with shiny levers that had the skull motif on them. "Death City is moving!" Kid stammered, coming to the same conclusion as I snapped back to my body completely, feeling woozy and stretched out, as I sometimes did after a hasty shadow-transmutation. Kid blinked, looking concerned as he caught me and I leaned against him, panting as I awkwardly pulled the scattered pieces of my awareness back into my body. "Just too quick of a snap-back." I muttered, pushing away as the others all started going back up to the Death Room. We followed silently as Lord Death remained down there, piloting absently. "So then, how are we going to pass the time?" I asked, and we looked at each other for a moment. A slow grin spread across my face, and Kid smirked, shaking his head sadly. "Well, unless he's sneakier than I give him credit for, DK's not around." He admitted, and I chuckled.

_Akuma's POV:_

"Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. CRAP!" I screamed, arrowing across the sky with several dozen rockets trailing in my wake as I circled the base. A hail of bullets rose up to meet me every time I dived to try and shake the missiles off, like a deadly rain in reverse. DK was thinking very hard, as was displayed by his absolute dead silence. _Dive!_ He said suddenly, and I jerked out of the way of yet another anti-air cannon's flight path. "Are you crazy?!" I screamed, soaring up. _That's obvious and beside the point! Just trust me, how many times have you regretted trusting your ol' pal DK?_ I corkscrewed, spinning wildly to avoid the next airborne projectiles. "I don't have time or the breath to answer that! And besides, they're too many to list today, we need to get to the DWMA!" I snapped, and felt a red haze come over the world as he wrenched control of our body, spiraling us downward like we had been hit.

I tried to struggle as we plummeted closer and closer, but he held us steady. _Just a little closer…just a little closer…NOW!_ He shouted, letting me go and flap once, causing a flock of ducks to explode up beneath us, startled into flight and running right into the gunners. I hovered, my jaw slowly clicking downwards as the well-trained military unit was massacred by a bunch of flying pests with attitude problems. Once the quackers had beat them back, DK settled down, waltzing over with a casual and jaunty stride to press the self-destruct button, exploding the relay station with a yawn and a stretch. _Who's awesome?_ He asked smugly, pushing my jaw back up and chuckling. "You…you…I don't even know what to say to you anymore. Good job and never do that again." I said, collecting myself and launching off into the evening, streaking off for Death City, Nevada.

_**Oh yeah boys and girls, Death City is in Nevada, USA. HA HA HA! In your faces! No, seriously, it says so in the manga, Soul Eater NOT I believe, something like that. Cool right? I so want to go to Nevada now… *pouts* Well, it's in the same country. I'm sure I can make it sometime during my life. Hehe, another thing on my bucket list. Here is the full list so far:**_

_**Hang-glide.**_

_**Jump out an airplane, skydiving or otherwise.**_

_**Ride one of those amusement park things that literally slingshots you up in the air in those weird hamster-ball capsules.**_

_**Go to Japan and visit Kohta Hirano and **__**Atsushi Ohkubo and get their autographs on all the corresponding manga books. (Hellsing Author and Soul Eater Author)**_

_**Get the Hellsing manga in paper.**_

_**Learn how fire a gun. (I already kinda know, but I'm pretty sure my dad teaching me a couple times when I was three or four, I don't even remember now, wasn't a legal method)**_

_**Go to India.**_

_**Publish my original book and have it made into a movie. (If this was even possible, I'd like to do it anonymously so nobody starts stalking me, i.e. the media)**_

_**And probably some other stuff I forget right now. Right, I just had an idea for something and am now going to go implement it. Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien!**_

_**PS: (9/3/2013) I haven't updated in a while because of reasons I shall explain in the next chapter, but rest assured I have not abandoned the story!**_


	41. Shadow Flip

_**Okay, I didn't post for a while because I went to my grandma's for Saturday, Sunday, and came back on Monday. She has a computer and Wi-Fi, but I don't think she has Microsoft or any other typing program, and I didn't ask. Oh well. *shrugs* Also, I'm working on a little special something. I'm drawing my own version of the This Is Halloween AMV! Well, more or less. I'm drawing a sort of trailer/preview/synopsis of the fanfic, and putting it to the music. But that is taking for**_ever_**. Much longer than I want it too. *glares at Paint* Yeah, you ya stupid- *starts grumbling under breath* Anyway, we are coming to the sad end of this fanfic. For those of you who would care to know, I am doing a Black Butler/**__**Kuroshitsuji (?) I think that's how it's spelled…right after this. I already have the first chapter started (2,432 word count), and I can FINALLY not do a romance, because there's no way my little sister can come up with a reason to, because she's only seen a little of Black Butler, mostly consisting of the Undertaker. Life is good…anyway, here's the next chapter for ya.**_

_Kage's POV:_

Kid and I were hanging out, _just_ hanging out mind you, on one of the balconies of the gardens where he and the others had protected their Chain Resonance. His arm was around me, and I was resting my head on his shoulder, bringing the shadows up from the ground with lazy little flicks to inscribe symmetrical patterns in the air. Okay fine. We had been making out too. But just a little I swear! _DK's totally gonna kill us if he ever gets a hold of this memory…_ I thought, happily nuzzling Kid's asymmetrical hair as he flushed slightly. The shadows mimed a heart and we both chuckled. "Kage…what are you going to do when Dad fights the Kishin?" he asked, looking concerned as I watched the land roll by. "Watch. Wait. For being a shadow witch, as well as the Kishin of Fear, I seem to do a lot of charging in blindly. I've always managed to stop things in time, but I think I can just let things be for once. Now that Lord Death is using a Death Scythe, he should be able to beat the Kishin soundly." I said calmly, tracing my name in the shadows.

"You honestly say you're going to just stand by and watch?" he said, sounding amused. I chuckled. "Silly boy. I can control myself." I said, lightly kissing his ear as he blushed again. Suddenly a blast roared out from the spikes above us, and I saw the gleam go all the way to a spider castle in the distance. Something projecting from it, possibly a gun barrel, was shot off in a large conflagration of smoke. I rose, shadows swirling around me as my shadows sneaked across the landscape, searching and finding information. "C'mon." I said, grabbing Kid's arm and shadow walking to the Death Room. We came out, and I blinked, seeing monitors strung up all around it. One showed Lord Death, and I heard him say faintly "_Alright then, let's see what this baby can do!_" He yanked a lever, and I braced myself, waiting for the shift.

Suddenly Baba Yaga Castle shifted and shot into the sky, springing away from its moorings, and Kid's jaw dropped. "That one can move too?!" he, Azusa, and Lord Death said in unison, and Excalibur snorted. "Fools." The spider-robot landed, scuttling away from the humanoid mass that was Death City. "What?! This is insanity!" Kid muttered, clutching his forehead. "This can't be happening." Liz said, putting her hands on her hips. Patty gasped. "This is so cool!" she squealed, and I rolled my eyes. On the monitor, Lord Death scratched the space where his chin would be. "_Well, here goes nothin'._" The city-robot stretched out a hand to grab Baga Yaga Castle, which scuttled out of the way. Lord Death grunted in frustration, outstretching the other hand, which also missed.

A tick mark appeared on his face, and the city jumped through the air, landing behind the spider-robot and slamming a hand down, missing it as it scuttled to one side, smashing its hand against the ground again to miss once more. Again. Again. Again. "_Why can't I swat that damn bug?!_" Lord Death snarled, still valiantly attempting to squish the castle. The building shifted abruptly as he went into more extreme measures, and Liz, Patty, the builder, and even Excalibur clung to the mirror for balance as Azusa crouched. Shadows shot from the walls, wrapping around my wrists and waist to hold me steady as Kid clung to me, barely remaining upright as the inky strands tightened to compensate for an extra person's weight. "Careful Dad, don't kill us!" he yelped, and I nodded in agreement, beads of sweat trickling down the back of my neck as I held the spell where an anti-power -Lord Death's, a Reaper's- was dominant.

Another tick mark appeared on the Reaper's face. He shifted one hand, sweeping it downwards in a karate chop. "_Take this, bug_!" Before the dust had even settled and the squirmy, quicksilver-fast castle had skidded to a halt, he swung the control around, making his hand grate across the jungle, knocking over trees as the spider scuttled. "_And this!_" He swung the city, reversing rotation as his other hand made straight for the bug, which skittered to a halt, bringing two legs up to sear into the hand, burning all the way through. "_Ah! Hot hot hot hot hot!_" the Reaper yelped, jerking his hand away from the corresponding lever as it crackled with red lightning. He growled, grabbing it again and swinging it forward. His wounded hand slammed down on the spider's legs, trapping it as he reached down with the other hand.

The spider reared up as much as it was able, lasers coming from its eyes to score across the hand. "_Hot! Hot! Really really hot!_" the Reaper yelped again as the lasers traveled up the city and skidded off as soon as it came to the DWMA with a large explosion. "Dad what are you doing!" Kid shrieked, burying his face in my shoulder as I squeaked, momentarily lifted off the ground as the shadows titled, then righted themselves, wanting to hold onto someone myself, thank you very much. A third tick mark appeared on the extremely pissed Reaper's face. "_Eye poke!_" he snarled, jabbing two fingers into the laser eyes, shattering them. He lifted the hand as most of the spider's face exploded and the robot itself went limp. He slid his hands under it, grumbling. "_Special attack…Coffee Table Flip!_" he snarled, flinging it into the air and indeed flipping it over as everyone's jaws dropped, mine not included. "Impossible!" Kid and the others cried out, and Excalibur snorted. "Fools!"

The castle landed in a huge cloud of dust, and Azusa stood up. "Now it's my turn." She muttered, pulling her glasses down. She glowed blue at the edges, and I nodded in appreciation of the Death Scythe's skill. _Even people such as these have skills we do not, someone of Azusa's talents __**must**__ be found, sooner or later for our new generation._ She pushed them back up again. "Target located. Mapping it now." She said crisply, and I shadow-walked quickly to see if she was right. "The upper level of the castle, near the middle. That's where the Kishin is." She said, and Lord Death nodded. "_Thank you Azusa, good job. Same to you students, you preformed well today._" He said happily, and I saw Kim blast out of the castle, with her team clinging to Jackie as Lock, Shock, and Barrel used brooms, following with several stains I could tell were blood on their clothes and satisfied, maniac grins. I quickly snapped back to my body, letting the shadows holding me up relax.

Just as I did, the castle sprang back up, scuttling over to face the city robot. Suddenly strands of giant cobweb shot out, and I hissed as red lightning exploded in the room, jarring my body as the others cried out. Lord Death quickly sliced them off with a few jerks and grabbed the ends, holding the spider from doing it again. It was a ridiculous little tug-of-war for a moment, and then the city swung its hand around, dragging the castle despite its best efforts. Lord Death snarled, bringing the other hand around. "_Playtime's over!_" One finger was extended as his hand slammed into the castle, plunging deep and stopping as it reached the middle. It pulled out, a ring of smoke clinging to it before it was dissipated, and Asura popped out, wrapped in wires. The city shifted, a gaping maw opening that I assumed was a mouth. _Whoa…I suddenly want to be so much farther away from this place now that the Reaper's mobile._

Asura was hung over the maw, and then dropped. "Hmm…" Excalibur muttered as Kid gasped. "He swallowed the Kishin whole!" The city chewed a little, and then a resounding gulp was heard. It belched, and I rolled my eyes, rolling my shoulders a little to relax them. Speak of the non-devil, a certain red-shirted figure plummeted through the air, impacting in the groves of crosses and raising a large cloud of dust. I reluctantly stood down with Kid as Lord Death picked up Spirit. "I have to say, you're as reckless now as you always were." Asura said calmly, sitting up and letting his hidden gaze travel to Lord Death. "It's nice to see you again too Asura." He said calmly, holding Spirit against his shoulder as the Kishin rose. "This is one pleasure I would have been be more than happy to forgo." He muttered back, and Azusa tensed beside me. I gritted my teeth, feeling the pressing, annoying headache of madness that wafted from the pale Kishin like a noxious cloud. _God…I can barely think with all this cluttering up my senses…_

Lord Death twirled his scythe a few times. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but there's no running away this time." He said, and I frowned slightly. "You can't leave this room without my permission, which I don't intend to give you." Asura sighed. "You put me in a difficult position. If you won't let me leave I'll have to kill you." He said calmly, and Lord Death cocked his head. "Oh? Is that so? After all this time, you actually believe you can defeat me?" Asura smirked, his skin scarves cracking on his head to reveal his face, not saying a word. "Unfortunately for you, the moment you were swallowed and trapped in my Death Room, the winner was already decided." Lord Death said firmly, swinging Spirit down by his "feet". "Well? What do you say? Shall we end this quickly?" he asked, and Kid swallowed. Shadows swirled under me, agitated and confused, and I calmed them with a twitch of an eye. _Come on then Asura, Lord Death. Let's see what each of you __**fears**__. _I thought, my eyes darkening and irises turning red, the color of freshly spilled blood, the color of sacrifice.

_**Well, hope that makes up for my longer-than-week-long absence. So, I decided I will be posting my chapters on the weekend, Friday if I can, Saturday if I cannot, and Sunday if something happened on Friday and Saturday. I think that'll work well for everyone, don't you? Yeah…don't worry all you worriers, DK and Akuma have not gone MIA. They'll show up soon. Next chapter, I dare say. You know, has anybody else noticed I stopped naming the songs the chapters are named after? It got to be too tiresome, and besides, at this point I don't think anybody cares. Leave me plenty of nice reviews please! I want to see how far this'll go! Anything else of note from the last week…nope. I'm all good. See ya next update! Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien!**_


	42. Fear

_**Alrighty then, I have added a disclaimer on my profile that I might have gotten in trouble without. The FSPCOC (Fanfiction Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to OCs) would have royally chewed me out if I didn't. ;) Right then, I think I finally have an idea for a sequel, but I need to write the BB before I do. You know, I'm so excited about it I'm publishing the first chapter right now. *click* There. By the very time you are reading this sentence, the first chapter of the BB fanfic shall be online. Go, read and review my puppets. MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Hehe, sorry. I went to the Renaissance today, and guess what I got! One longbow, and three arrows! (they came with the bow, I couldn't get more because the bow cost all my money) So I is a happy person now… I upgraded my weapons arsenal! Now (after I practice some more) if I get shunted to the past or a past-similar dimension, I won't be completely useless! I'll know how to use a weapon! Let's see…anything else that happened to me so far between this weekend and last…nope, I'm good! Read on my friends *cough* story-fanatics *cough***_

_Akuma's POV:_

I jumped from boulder to boulder, finally landing by Lock, Shock, Barrel, and the remaining DWMA forces. "Yo yo, wazzup?" DK chirped, giving them all a cocky grin as my fellow Nightstalker rolled their eyes. "Akuma, DK, what are you doing here?" Sid asked, and I shrugged. "Well, after we took out the relay stations, we wanted to join up with Kage, but then we found huge footprints leading here and Death City gone. Your guess is as good as mine." I said nonchalantly, scratching my chin. "The Reaper probably used Brew and made it mobile. The madness wavelength is significantly suppressed; Asura's in the Death Room isn't he?" DK muttered, standing erect and sniffing the air like a dog. The others around us, except Lock and her brothers, all turned pale. "Lord Death, the Grim Reaper, versus Asura, the Kishin of Madness with Kage, Demonmeister, Great Old One of Fear, looking on. This should be interesting." He added with a feral grin, and we all reverse-crossed ourselves nervously.

_Kage's POV:_

Lord Death's soul swelled up, blue and huge, and Asura pressed his hands together, his red soul expanding and merging with the Reaper's. A flash of white dazzled and blinded Kid and Azusa, Excalibur and I could see perfectly clearly that they were starting. "_This is crazy! What's going on out there?!"_ Liz muttered, and Patty gasped. "I don't understand this, neither one of them has even made a move yet." Kid said, and Azusa leaned forward. "Look closely. The fight's begun." Asura, who had been bent down, straightened up and opened his mouth to reveal Vajra. It crackled, and the red beam shot out into Lord Death's hand as he raised it, surging into a hole in the huge white palm. It closed as the Kishin finished, and he lowered his hand and burped. "Nice try, but it looks like the next move's mine. What do you say Spirit, you ready?" Lord Death called, swinging the scythe into an up-and-ready position. "_Whenever you are_." Death Scythe grinned, flashing onto the blade.

"Then let's end this traitor! He's lived long enough!" he shouted, flashing into being before the Kishin and swinging Spirit. Asura calmly leaned backward, making the blow miss as Lord Death scowled and swung again. He ducked and flipped over the blade, utterly silent as the Reaper snarled in frustration. A lucky shot swiped away part of the Kishin's shirt, and then he swung again, slicing him in half above the waist. "He did it!" Azusa said as both she and Kid leaned forward, but I pushed them back as Excalibur snorted. "Fools!" Spirit came to the same conclusion. "_This doesn't look right…it's a decoy! Damnit!_" he shouted, and I looked up to see Asura complete the magic symbol and "throw" it downwards. The glowing red disk was met by the Reaper's yellow mask-shield, and he held up his hand behind it, straining upward.

He slowly began to force it upward, and Asura pressed his hands together, grimacing as he tried to push it back down. He evidently decided it wasn't going to be worth the effort to hold the shield and fired off a quick blast from Vajra, shattering both defenses. The cloud of dust billowed outward, making Kid and Azusa cough. "C'mon dad!" Kid yelled, and Asura's gaze flicked over to him. I narrowed my eyes, holding a hand in front of Kid's chest. _**Mine.**_ I thought at the Kishin, and I saw a hint of a mirthless smirk appear on his face. He did not reply though, cut off by the Reaper's voice. "Is that the best you can manage?" He blasted out of the smoky cloud, swiping as the Kishin hurriedly dodged. "Maybe you should've rested up a bit more _before taking me on_!" he hissed, chopping at the Kishin as he whirled and ducked in the air, flipping and squirming out of the way as the shiny black blade missed killing him blow after blow after blow. "Can you do me a favor? Stop talking in that dumb voice, it's incredibly annoying." Asura said calmly, and Lord Death snarled. "If it bothers you so much let me kill you quickly! Don't worry, I'll make it _painless_!" he replied, slicing downwards as the Kishin quickly fell through the air, avoiding the blow by a hairsbreadth.

He landed on the floor, rising. "Why don't we have a little chat about the past instead? You see, I've had an awful lot to think about since you locked me up." Lord Death sank slowly to the same level as Asura, not answering, but listening. "There was no escaping it. When you're sealed inside a bag of your own skin, there's only so much you can do. Your mind starts to wander." He said menacingly, and Lord Death spun his scythe, resting it on his shoulder. "Yeah, sorry about that. It won't happen again. This time you'll be _good and dead_." He snarled, voice deepening, and Spirit appeared on the blade. "_I know he's the Lord of Death, but I've never heard him sound so murderous before!_" he said nervously, and I looked back to Asura. "Sitting there in the dark, I had the chance to think about a lot of things, including the nature of the world itself. And after lengthy consideration, I realized something. When all is said and done this world is an unknowable place. On the surface all appears rational, orderly, but what lies beyond that thin veneer of reason? Stability and reality? Or chaos and madness? What are we really made of in the end? Is there truly any meaning to the lives we lead? Or are we nothing more than hollow vessels? These are questions we can never answer, because we cannot hope to see beyond the world's fragile layer of skin. So we live our lives filled with uncertainty, never knowing who or what we truly are or what the future will bring. All we can do is imagine. Life becomes an unsolvable mystery with any number of twists and turns awaiting us." He murmured, clearly reminiscing.

"And that's enough to fill any soul with terror." He finished, and Lord Death growled. "So much time to think and that's all you could come up with!? You're really pathetic!" he snarled, swinging Spirit as a wave of blue energy pulsed out and knocked the Kishin away. He zoomed behind him. "REAPER CHOP!" he shouted, performing the punishment with more power than I had ever seen him do before. Asura flew down, impacting the dusty ground and creating a large crater. Kid and Azusa were nearly knocked off their feet, but Excalibur and I remained firm. The smoke cleared, and I heard Asura speak again. "It's not necessarily the uncertainty that makes us fearful, it's more than that. The answers we image are what really frighten us." He added with relish, and I scowled. "You're saying people would be happier if they stopped imagining altogether?" Lord Death asked incredulously, and Asura smirked. "Imagination is where all our fear originates. It is the mother of terror and mankind's greatest weakness." He said smugly, and the Reaper sank slightly, coming even. "I always thought it was humans' greatest strength, what separates them from the animals." He retorted mildly, and Asura levitated himself off the ground. "What you offer is order and authority, which gives humans the _illusion _of security and peace. But what truly lies under the thin layer of rationality you attempt to impose on the world?" he asked, coming out of the pit as Lord Death stopped sinking. "Who knows."

"Exactly. Maybe there's nothing under there at all." Asura agreed, and I tapped a finger on the platform, waiting. "I think I've just about had it listening to this meaningless chatter. Ready Spirit?" Lord Death said, and the red-haired idiot flashed onto his blade. "Yeah, let's do it!" he cheered before vanishing as Lord Death swung the scythe up. "Let's go Soul Resonance!" they said in unison, and a bright blue glow shot up around their feet. It attached itself to Spirit expanded into a large, crescent moon-shaped, glowing scythe. "ASURA, YOUR TIME IS UP!" Lord death snarled in his true voice, launching himself at the Kishin as he jumped back. "Is it?" he purred, and Lord Death swung the blade back. "KISHIN HUNTER!" Asura quickly clapped his hands together as a red shield sprung up in place, and the Kishin Hunter attack ploughed into it. They all strained to hold it for a second, then Asura's shield gave and he was sent flying, smacking through several of the crosses as he went, not moving. He landed in a crouch, and I tensed in excitement. _Is it my time yet?_

"You're lost an arm." The Reaper said nonchalantly, lifting Death Scythe from his position in the dirt. "I'm not too worried about it. It'll grow back quickly enough." Asura said calmly, standing and putting a hand to his stump. He suddenly tensed, uttering a long groan as his arm suddenly healed, gasping for breath like it hurt._ I hope it did. I hope it hurt like a burning flame searing every inch of his body all at once. There's something missing about him, something I can't quite grasp…is he shielding it? So much Madness…I can't think through all this…_ I moaned slightly, clutching my head to ease the migraine developing. "Kage? Are you okay?" Kid whispered, and I gave him an absent smile. "Yeah…Asura's wavelength…big headache…completely normal…for this amount of madness…" I managed to mumble, and he put an arm around my shoulders. I stood, and Kid followed. "This fight of theirs…it's like nothing I've seen…" he murmured, and I nodded, rolling my shoulders a little to relax myself.

"You think I wasn't expecting that? I know who I'm dealing with here." The Reaper said calmly, and I twitched as Azusa came up behind me. _I don't like this…we're too open…_ "Pain in the present can be dealt with. It's imagining future pain that hurts us the most. It terrifies us." Asura said absently, and I narrowed my eyes. "So what?" Lord Death asked impatiently, and Asura inspected the fingers of his regenerated hand. "Pain and death aren't so frightening really…unless you let your imagination run away with you." He murmured. "Again, so what? Is there a point in all this babbling of yours?" the Reaper snarled, and Asura put his hand down. "Naturally. Would you like to hear it? Very well then, it's quite simple. See Reaper, I have decided not to imagine anymore." He finished, and I gaped. That's what was missing. Kishin Asura, the Great Old One of Madness, was not afraid. He had no fear._**Fear and Rage cannot exist in Madness. But what happens if the vessels themselves lack Fear, Rage, or Madness? Then Rage cannot beat Fear, Fear cannot beat Rage…and neither can defeat Madness.**_ DK's words, told to me and Akuma at some long-ago campfire or cabin, echoed in my ears as cold shudders ran up and down my spine. _I can't do this._ My hands were shaking. _I can't do this._ My breath sped up. _I can't._ "Kage…are you okay?" Kid asked in concern. I didn't answer. I couldn't. _ I can't do this. He's too strong. I can't kill him. I'm too scared!_

_**Dun dun daaaam! *plays organ* Sorry it took so long, but for some weird reason the Caps Lock on my keyboard would stick and everything would be all spastic caps every sentence or so. And you guys have to wait a weeeeek to know what haaappeeeenns! :3 I am so unbelievably smug right now, I probably have a huge grin on my face. Okay, I have a plan, so I continue with the one-per-week updates, but I make SURE to leave a sorta credits chapter and update that on Halloween, because I really freaking want it to end then! C'mon, everybody would like that. So then…yeah, I got nothing. I shot some arrows all the way into the cornfield and had to cross the police line to get them. (not really, but it certainly was official looking) I feel good about myself. :) Of course, I always feel good about myself…but I felt ever more special now! Bah…whatever. So enjoy and give me plenty of reviews, they keep me happy through high school. (It sucks, c'mon people admit it.) I come home, my brain's been steamrolled, I take out my IPod, I turn to Fanfiction, I log on…and I check my stories. If I have a new review, my mood brightens considerably and I think of how to make sure the person gets their money's worth for the next chapter. (Well, none of you pay me, but time's worth maybe? You all take time out of your busy little lives and read my stuff.) If I don't, I slouch and stare at the ceiling and think evil thoughts on how to make the readers suffer, namely via cliffies and character deaths. *True story* Hey, I may get inspiration either way, but do you **_really_** want me to kill a character at this point? Cliffy is already kinda taken care of, sorry about that. DK's position may be slipping…and of course Kage's kinda already been foreshadowed for character death. Review, Request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien!**_

_**PS: Dun dun dadum for Kage…**_


	43. Madness, Order, and Fear

_**Daw, since you all begged so nicely and I managed to valiantly grab some free time, here is the next chapter for all you peoples. Who's an awesome author? I am! Yes, I am, yes I am, I'm an awesome author, yes I am, I'm a good author! Arf Arf! *grin* Yeah, whatever. I was sooo lucky that I only had a little homework tonight, and I'm probably going to realize just as class starts tomorrow that I forgot to do something, but for now I'm good! :) So then…read on my minions. Read on. (Let the Record Show)**_

_Kage's POV:_

My breath was stuttering in my chest. It felt cold and dry, and I wished I had some water. I could tell my eyes were wide and blank, staring off into nothing as Kid grew increasingly agitated, even shaking me a little as my head lolled, lifeless, mute, still and quiet. "KAGE! GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!" he finally screamed, and I jumped, my nerves flinching and twitching. Then I took a deep, shaky breath. I needed to stop being so obvious about this. I needed to fake being calm. For Kid. I gave him a tiny smile, squeezing his arm slightly as his mouth moved in a huge, relieved smile. It twisted my heart, knowing I was just as panicked, but holding it in better. "So you've decided to sacrifice your imagination. Sounds like a cowardly move." The Reaper said calmly, and Asura sneered. "Cowardly, Reaper? I think you should choose your words more carefully." He retorted, and the Reaper swung Spirit back. "If there's a better word to describe you, I don't know what it might _be_!" he snarled, zooming forward and burying the tip of the blade where Asura had been standing as he scampered backwards, leaping and landing on one of the malformed crosses.

He jumped again as the glowing, rainbow colored blade sliced through the fragile wood, shattering it. "This is how you've been as long as I've known you. Hiding cowardice behind cunning-" Lord Death snarled, chopping at him as he jumped and skittered backwards, silent once more. He landed on all fours, like a frog, staring warily up at his former master. "-You were always riddled with insecurities and plagued by fears, unable to relax until you'd hidden them all. In an effort to escape your own petty fear, you sided with Vajra and the Nightmare Queen. You should've fought alongside me but you were too weak for that." He growled, reverting back to his old voice as cold shudders ran up and down my spine."In the end, you betrayed not only innocent humans, but your own weapon partner and comrade as well." He said, slicing as Asura hopped up once again. "You know, for a Grim Reaper you're impressively naïve. Following the rules doesn't guarantee an escape from fear. Just look what happened to Kyōfu." He said, and Lord Death pummeled him with an outstretched hand. "And insanity does?! Even if you bury your fears in madness, new fears will only surface. Are you truly so lost already that you can't understand that simple fact!?" he snarled, punching him repeatedly into the ground as dust rose.

"If you continue along the path you've chosen, the world will sink into despair. Even a child would see the heartless evil in that. Hyah!" he growled, hitting him harder as we looked on. "Don't you see how empty and meaningless the authority you impose is? That's not how the truth is found. You make your followers feel safe by offering them white lies and comforting words. Don't you know that only harms them more?" he asked softly, pinned facedown by the Reaper's huge palm. I saw the blast of Vajra, and the Kishin was sent flying as Lord Death pulled his hand back. "There's no hope for you. You are beyond saving!" he muttered in exasperation, diving as Asura continued his wayward flight path. "Do you find creating the illusion of peace for people that noble of a job?" he asked, firing little bursts from his weapon. "It's far more noble than seeking to destroy them with blind insanity like you intend to!" the Reaper retorted, lowering his giant white hand and diving once more as Asura hooked one of his skin scarves around a cross and swung himself safely out of the way of Spirit's blade. "Have you been listening to a word I said old man!?" he asked, coming around and firing a quick blast from Vajra, deflected by the scythe blade.

"What's wrong with surrendering to madness?" he asked, landing softly and withdrawing his scarf. "That's where the true peace is." Lord Death launched himself forward. "So you keep saying. But that's because you're not strong enough for sanity!" he snarled, and Asura smirked. "I'm plenty strong. You'll find out soon enough that you're the weak one Reaper." He murmured, spitting up Vajra and forcing the blow away with a blast. A huge, yellow-white explosion reared up, and I braced myself with a few shadows. "_What's happening now Kid?!_" Liz shrieked, and they were pushed back by the shockwave. "_Hey, maybe it's time to get out of here!_" she added nervously, and Patty moaned. "_Huh…_" The smoke started clearing as I let the shadows release, and they rubbed against me a little before vanishing. "It's about time for us to end this." The Reaper said in his old voice, and Asura floated up, coming even. "Exactly what I was thinking. Perhaps you should say goodbye to your son." He agreed, and Lord Death remained silent. "What? Is it something I said?" Asura purred, and I gritted my teeth, the shadows around my feet instinctively pulling close a little, then receding as I reasserted my will. "I'll remove your threat once and for all." The Reaper said, jerking Spirit as the blade suddenly increased, growing much, _much_ larger.

"I'm the guardian of this world. It is my job to make sure you do no further damage to it." he finished, and Asura snorted silently. "So I hear. That's most unfortunate though. I'd hoped we'd be able to come to an understanding." He said, and the Reaper's eyes narrowed. "No. That was never even a possibility." He said with finality, and Asura nodded. "We were friends once, so allow me to offer you one small piece of advice. You should be careful about hiding behind authority and blinding yourself to the realities of the world. Might cost you your life someday…" he said, and then grinned. "…or somebody else's." He vomited up Vajra, turning to us as I went pale and the Reaper started. "Shade shield!" I screamed, flinging up my hands as the Reaper dropped and stood in front of all three of us, and I whimpered as the searing heat and punishing brightness began to eat away at the trembling shadows. They broke, and I was flung back with another yelp as everything turn red, red, then softened and went down into inky blackness.

_Kid's POV:_

I groggily sat up, my head pounding. _Kage…dad…you protected us right? Then why…did this happen?_ I sat all the way up, my eyes and head clearing a little. Azusa was sprawled over a chunk of rubble, and Death Scythe was thrown up against another. Neither moved. Neither breathed. I looked to my other side, and saw Kage, her body smeared with ash and soot, eyes barely closed as shadows swirled around her like water, nudging her prone body carefully, but getting no response. I shifted to my hands and knees, crawling to her painfully and grabbing her wrist as the shadows parted, huddling against my legs like frightened children as I waited for her pulse. I let out a great sigh of relief as I felt it, soft and slow against my gritty palm as her chest rose and fell a little, still alive. Then it hit me. "Where's dad?" I murmured, standing with a wince and walking towards the platform as the hanging smoke around my feet cleared.

"Father! Where are you?!" I asked, louder, something tightening painfully in my chest. I stopped, then ran, not caring how much it hurt as I saw a sad, tattered black form lying on the ground. Liz and Patty were silent in my hands. "Dad no!" I whispered, kneeling at his side. "This…is the destruction the whole world will know." Excalibur said softly as Asura hovered closer, chuckling to himself. "The Reaper and the Nightmare Queen. I feel pleased." He muttered, and then shot a look at Excalibur as he spoke again. "It seems you've learned a lot over the years. But tell me something Asura. After you've filled the world to the brim with your insanity, what else will remain? You have destroyed Fear and Order." He did not grimace. "Oh it's you Excalibur. Don't worry. Madness is enough. The world doesn't need anything else." He said, and I gritted my teeth. _Kage…please be alright._ "Fool!" Asura did not say anything about how annoying the Holy Sword was being. "Aw, I've missed you too. But you're wrong. I've won. It was always going to end this way. Bound as he was by honor and obligation, it was almost too easy to lead him into my trap. And the Nightmare Queen? Her vessel is unworthy. She cannot handle the power she now posses. I only destroyed the last fragment of the Great Old One, Fear."

"Fool!" Excalibur swung his cane up. "Those in power have the responsibility to maintain honor! Those who become vessels of demons are not chosen for their ineptitude to wield their tagalong's power!" he said firmly, and Asura snorted. "Exactly my point. That's why they lost. They were too weak. The Reaper was a slave to his own honor, his lost to me because of his love for other people. The vessel was too weak to give in to her fear, holding back that which powers her most." He suddenly tensed, and a whimpering groan was forced out of him as he clutched his head. He arched his back, and we all stared. "_What the…_" Liz muttered, and Patty blinked. "No this is wrong! Very very wrong! I have to deal with this immediately, if it continues I'll…I can't waist time…" he mumbled, turning and flying out of the hole he created with the weapon blast. "Where'd he go?" I murmured to myself, standing. Azusa was recovering as well, and she quickly paged some nurses, which included Blair and those two cabaret girls Death Scythe was always hanging around with as they started attending to Lord Death and Spirit. I quickly walked over to Kage, who was cocooned in her own shadows as they lovingly brushed her hair out, but parted for me like they had before as I kneeled beside her and hugged her close.

"C'mon Kage…don't die on me…you're too stubborn for that…" I told her, brushing some of her silky blonde locks away from her grimy, blood-spattered face. There was slightly movement under my palm, her eyelashes brushing against my skin. I lifted my hand to see her slowly open her eyes, looking dazed. "Kid…are you okay?' she asked weakly, pitching forward and grabbing the edges of my shirt as she wobbled, leaning against me so suddenly she almost toppled me over. "Yeah…just some grime." I told her, gently stroking the top of her head as she began to breathe more normally, her body regaining its usual wiry strength. Suddenly she yanked me close, our lips meeting as I flushed slightly, remembering how many people there were to witness, but I soon brushed it away and kissed her back, wrapping my arms around her and simply holding her, feeling her life and warmth. She pulled away, her eyes grim and focused. "That's for luck. Now let's go kill him." She grated, shadows pushing her to her feet and by extension pulling me up as well as I still was holding her.

"What! No, you can't." I said, grabbing her cheeks and pressing my forehead to hers. "I don't care how strong you are, Kage, Demonmeister, Great Old one of Fear. I don't want you to get hurt." I said firmly, and her eyes softened a little. "I know. And you're a selfish, stupid brat if you think I'm going to stay here and watch." She whispered back, a tiny smile gracing her lips as my own quirked upwards. "I won't be able to stop you?" I asked, clarifying, and she grinned, giggling a little. "We don't have time to find out." she said seriously, and I nodded. "Then-" I quickly pulled her in for a passionate kiss of my own, and she responded, knowing this may be the last time we got the chance to do so. "-you make sure not to hurt yourself." I said softly, and she nodded firmly. "Yes sir." We turned, walking to the edge of the hole as shadows swirled and spun in her wake.

_**Yay, ends there, because I can't put out too many at once, I need to keep it going until Halloween because (as I've said before) it'd be so boss if it ends then. Hey, I used an AMV again! Yay! I stumbled upon a Black Butler version, and I thought it was a good song…except for the parts that are anime, I was listening to it the whole time I was writing. So pretty please with sugar, candy, and pretty much every bribery ever conceived, review n' stuff. I ain't got anything right now other than that, so Review, Request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien.**_


	44. To the End of Endurance?

_**I'm still alive! :D Hey peoples, we're coming to the end of the Nightstalker style story. I know I've said this like a billion times these past chapters, but this time it really is almost the end. I swear. Not much has happened in the real world since my last posting, however I have added a new story (which is not mine) that a friend wrote. It is a Hellsing, so sorry about that if you don't know it. She's WAY too freakishly shy to actually get an account of her own, so she asked me to publish it for her. And since I am a wonderful friend beyond all imagining, I did so. Actually, she promised me a Butterscotch Dilly Bar. What can I say, I'm easily bought when it involves sugar.*sheepish shrug*Also I happen to think it's a good story and published it out of a sort of fellow artist's sympathy. So please give her a review or two, it'll make her really happy. ANYWAY, back to SE matters. Much to probably all your joys, I am indeed doing a sequel.*pauses for a moment to hear all your happy screaming and fangirling*Yeah, I am doing a sequel to Nightstalker Style. To put a dampener on your ecstasy, I am doing it **_after_** I finish the BB fanfic I'm working on right now. Hey, gotta keep on progress. Also I need to finish off my ideas for this, including whether or not to do a prequel or a sequel, or a prequel-sequel. Trust me on this people, I'll get it done. ;) On to the next chapter of awesomeness! (In the Name of God)**_

_Akuma's POV:_

"C'mon Kage…you can do this…" I muttered, pacing nervously and throwing glances up at the Death Room. "Hey, muttering and walking won't do squat. Take a deep breath, let it out, and kill something Kishin-y. It'll help." DK said bluntly, yawning a little as I rolled my eyes. "We got 'em all already." I growled, and he chuckled. "Fine. Resume nattering." He said lazily, and Lock sighed. "God, all this waiting is giving me shivers. I wanna fight." She snapped, and Shock nodded, absently playing electricity along his hands. "The Reaper would've made sure to lock the Death Room from any outside influence, without Kage and her shadow-witchery we won't be able to get a fix on what's going on without possibly breaking the Reaper's concentration at a fatal time." Barrel said evenly, carving lazy swirls on the log they sat on. Suddenly a blast roared above us, and the Nightstalker all whipped up, shadows flashing and sparks igniting. Sid and the others all raised their own weapons belatedly, but did not do anything once the hole remained clear of enemies.

"What do you think? Asura, or the Reaper?" Lock said quietly, and I narrowed my eyes. "Could be either. Maybe even both, and don't forget Kage. I can't tell with all the residual madness." I said quietly, and DK nodded. "Same here. Asura's wavelength could still be going strong, or the Kishin could be completely annihilated. The sheer magnitude and residue from when he was powering Arachne's castle makes everything moot as far as we can sense." He added softly, and we all narrowed our eyes at the hole as smoke started to clear. Suddenly Asura himself powered out, heading in a hurry towards the collapsed Baba Yaga castle. "What?!" Lock gasped, and I quickly reached out for Kage's wavelength. _Save it buddy. That wavelength is fogging everything out; I can barely sense Lock and her brothers, never mind Kage._ DK reprimanded mentally, and I withdrew my senses, nervously hopping from one foot to the other as the Kishin entered the castle.

"DWMA, I'm heading up. Kage needs us." I said, casting the Shade Wings spell as fast as I could and launching myself into the air. I was suddenly blow backward, impacting the edge of the Death City wall as all my breath escaped me, a huge fountain of Asura's madness erupting from the center of Baba Yaga. _Kid! Move move move move move move move! You can't stand this much madness in close quarters!_ DK screamed in my mind, our limbs weakly stirring as the concussive force kept us pinned. It stopped, and I weakly commanded my wings to flap, but I still peeled away from the cold concrete of the fall and began free-falling through the air. Debris fell around me, and I sighed, gritting my teeth and using every inch of will to push my limp shadow away from my body, flapping weakly as I evened out._ Good job, but we're still in the air. C'mon kid, I didn't pick you for being a weakling. PUSH!_ DK roared in my mind as I managed to slow my plummet through the air, gasping a little as sweat poured from every pore in my body.

Suddenly I felt my spell weaken as out flight path sped up once more, and DK swore violently. _Alright, we can't fly anymore; use the Tarzan approach, 'cause WE'RE LOSING AIR FAST!_ He screamed in my mind, and I slung out a shadow, hookingonto the DWMA robot and slowing our descent once more as I gave a shaky sob of relief._ Kid, I don't need to tell you this, but you are the most talented individual I have ever had the pleasure to work with and/or inhabit. Now brace for impact, this is probably going to hurt._ He said calmly, gritting his teeth as I saw the ground approaching at a speedy, but no longer fatal pace. I closed my eyes, and all the breath was driven out of me in a whoosh as we hit terra firma, every inch of my body screaming from the impact jolt as I coughed. "OW!" DK screamed, back to verbal communication as I gave a weak chuckle, lying there in the dirt and enjoying the solid not-free-falling-of-doom-ness. I started to sit up, but winced again, coughing as something wet and dark spattered the ground. I looked woozily down at my torso, and my eyes widened. A two-inch-wide stump was currently impaling my stomach, and I paled as I realized I was losing blood fast. "Uh…maybe we should stop that from bleeding?" DK suggested weakly, pointing to the wound as I rolled my eyes.

_Kage's POV:_

We stood over the edge of the hole, staring at the fountain of madness as my body ached all over. _I have to…I can't let Kid go in there alone._ I thought nervously, clenching my fists. "Not good…not at all…" Liz whimpered as the spray coalesced, becoming a somewhat spherical coil as my eyes narrowed. "What is that thing?!" Kid muttered, and I jumped as Excalibur spoke up. "A barrier." Kid turned as I blinked, looking back to the Kishin. "A barrier?" Kid asked, and Excalibur nodded slightly. "The Kishin was badly injured during his fight with Lord Death. He's going into a deep sleep to heal." He said as the madness wavelength began coiling, staring to form hoops that blended and merged. _This…this is the best time to fight him. This is the best time to kill the Kishin Asura. We may never get a chance like this again._ I thought, trying to encourage myself as Kid blinked. "No, he can't! If he does than that means…" he murmured nervously, and Excalibur finished for him. "The madness wavelength will continue to expand. His insanity will take over the world without him lifting a finger." He said calmly, and Kid straightened. "No it won't. I can't sit here and let that happen. Liz! Patty!" he snarled, and they transformed. "Yeah!" Patty giggled, and I rolled my eyes as Kid caught them both.

"I will take my father's place, he can't fight now but I can. As a Grim Reaper, I will protect this world." He vowed, and I nodded. "Cursed meet, cursed part, dead we meet again. Nightstalker protect their own. I'll fight as long as I need to." I said softly, meeting his fiery gaze as his angry yellow eyes softened. We turned as one and jumped, Kid summoning Beelzebub and me spreading my Shade Wings, coasting on the warm currents of air. "Kid! Kage! Where are you going! You can't just run off! Come back here!" Azusa shouted, and I heard her run to the brink. Excalibur stopped her as I heard the familiar whoosh of his cane. "You gonna charge in there without a meister? What good will that do?" he asked her sharply, and I gave a grim smirk of satisfaction, shooting past Kid eagerly. We maneuvered through the bars of madness wavelength as I saw Blackstar hop through some lower down. I heard a yell, and Maka slipped through the last crack on the top as the ball sealed itself, trapping us inside.

She landed behind me, and Blackstar grinned. "Yo Maka, getting here a little late aren't ya?" She crouched, bringing Soul around. "Sorry, I had some things to take care of." Kid smiled slightly. "So we all began this battle in different places, and yet here we are, back together at the end of it." he said musingly, and Maka grinned. "Yup. I'm not complaining." Blackstar nodded slightly. "Yeah. Neither am I." They all glanced at me, and I gave them a feral smirk. "For meisters, you're not all that bad. It's an honor and a privilege to fight with you." I said softly, and we all directed our attention outwards. "Right, keep a tight rein on your souls at all times. Do _not_ let down your guard. If you do, the madness will consume you. We can't afford to let that happen." Kid admonished, and I nodded, shadows swirling to form the swords I used, so familiar to Akuma's comforting hilts, but lacking, absent. _No. No negative thoughts. I can beat him. I __**will**__ beat him._ "We know." Maka said quietly, and Blackstar scowled. "He got me last time. But this time I'm gonna make him pay!" he snarled, and I let out a long sigh, preparing myself to fight through the clinging haze of madness.

Liz and Patty grew to form the Death Cannons Kid used, and he brought them up. "_If we manage to make it out of this alive, something tells me ghosts won't scare me so much anymore._" Liz muttered, and Patty gasped. "_Wow, that would make you as strong as the Grim Reaper._" She told her, and Liz sweatdropped. "_Now now Patty, let's not too get carried away, okay? I'm not going to be volunteering for __**that**__ job anytime soon._" She growled, and Patty blinked. "_Can I?_" Blackstar took a ready stance, holding Tsubaki out and ready. "_Blackstar…_" He put a hand to his face. "Yeah?" She appeared on the blade, smiling softly. "_Is today the day? Will this be the moment when you surpass God?_" He grinned ferally. "Yeah. Just watch me." He snorted, and Soul grew out into the Genie hunter blade. "Okay guys, are we ready?" Maka asked, and I nodded. "Yeah." The others started to glow a faint blue, and I easily slid into their resonance, hearing a faint piano song coming from Soul. I blinked as a huge shape turned, my mouth dropping open as cold fear began to creep along my spine once more. _He's…he's huge!_

"_Hey wait a second! That's not what he looked like a minute ago!_" Liz squeaked, and Patty nodded. "_Yeah, he got a lot bigger. No fair!_" she pouted as Kid gritted his teeth. "He must've killed Arachne and swallowed her soul." He muttered, and Blackstar snorted. "I couldn't care less what you looked like Kishin. I'm still gonna destroy you. Got it?" he snarled, and I saw Asura's hand move in a creeping, crawling motion. "_Insects…yummy…come closer little insects…_" he purred, his voice echoing around us like we were standing in a megaphone with him shouting at the other end. "Listen up! Soul is about to play. Everyone ready?" Maka asked, and I smirked. "Ready and waiting." The song surged through them in a burst of power, and we all held it for a moment as I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and feeding into the power of the black blood. I opened them, grinning wildly.

"_Boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange…"_

_***plays organ furiously*DUN DUN DADUMMMMMM! Cliffhanger! I have peppered you with cliffhangers in this chapter, I have buried you in cliffies and drowned you in cliffies and shoved cliffies down your throat until you've choked on cliffies. *chucks one more cliffhanger at you just for the fun of it* And I get to be SOOOOOO smug about knowing! :3 Anyway, I better get writing on the BB chapter before you all try and kill me for dumping this unholy amount of cliffhangery cliffies on you. Hehe. *grin* Well…I really don't have anything else for ya'll right now. Smug smug. Neener neener. Cliffy cliffy. *stretch and yawn* Bye then. Review, Request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien, all that jazz.**_


	45. No Pressure

_**Greetings, my mostly silent reviewers. I, catsvrsdogscatswin/Jay, have come up with a brilliant idea. So, for my sequel/prequel, what if DK had a romantic interest in a grenade-launcher-esque female weapon? I think it's a good idea…he'd be so funny when he's got puppy-love…Anyway, back to the important things. I missed to bus today 'cause I slept in, and then I had to throw on my clothes, yank out the extra weight in my backpack (there had been a bring in book assignment at school), then dial my mom at her work and break the news and then run all over our neighborhood to find somebody that's actually HOME to drive me over to the high school. Yeah, no breakfast. I barely had time to brush my hair! XO And…yeah. I did make it on time though. :3 Achievement! ANYWAY…here's the next chapter for ya. I'm naming them again! (World so Cold AMV)**_

_3__rd__ Person POV:_

B.J, Excalibur, Sid, and Azusa stood and stared at the compressed ball of Asura's wavelength. "What is it?" Sid asked, and Azusa frowned. "A barrier the Kishin created. We think it's similar to the Death Room or the selective shielding on Witch Villages, impenetrable from the outside." He sighed. "I see." B.J shifted nervously. "The spread of the Madness hasn't even slowed down. I don't know what more we can try to do. We made Death City move and got the alliance of Nightstalker and we still couldn't beat the Kishin." He said wearily, and Excalibur spoke up. "FOOLS! What do you use your eyes for, decoration?!" B.J blinked indignantly. "There's still a slight hope." Azusa said firmly, and Sid half-turned. "What are you talking about?" She gave him a stern look. "Three meisters and a Nightstalker made it inside. Death the Kid's there, with Blackstar and Maka Albarn. They all have their weapons with them, and Kage made it in too. The battle's not over, we've still got a chance."

"I…*cough*…agree with the scary lady." A voice said weakly behind them, and they all turned to see Akuma leaning against the mirror, grinning tiredly with one hand pressed to his side. DK's eye was glinting with mischief and slight concern, and Akuma himself looked bone tired. Then they saw the gaping wound in their side. Bloodstained cotton was unsteadily wrapped around Akuma's middle, but it wasn't helping very much. "Akuma!" Blair squealed, hoping up from her spot by Spirit and hugging him frantically as he weakly waved her off. "I'm… *cough* just fine Blair. I just *cough* got pwned by a tree stump." Everyone stared at him, and he gave the room an annoyed glance. "Madness wavelength caught us by…*cough* surprise and we got… *cough* blasted out of the sky and… *cough* impaled ourselves on a… *cough* tree stump." He muttered, sinking to the ground and holding his side as red flecked the ground.

"Kid?" Sid asked in concern, and he gave them all a weak grin. "Kinda funny… *cough* huh? We've whooped monsters… *cough* and demons… and Kishins and… *cough* Nightstalker, but one itty bitty… *cough* tree stump manages to do us in." he mumbled, slumping against the buxom witch as she squealed nervously and dragged him over to Death Scythe and the Reaper. "Maka and the others are in there?" Sid muttered nervously, casting the pulsing red-black ball an anxious glance. "Victory still isn't very likely, but if Maka can use the Genie Hunter move and Kage can use her Song Resonance to support the others, then maybe." He turned back to the hole, seemingly convinced. "Yes, you're right. If they can harness enough power at the right time, they might be able to defeat the Kishin." B.J sighed. "That doesn't change anything for us up here." Sid turned to him. "Huh?" B.J elaborated. "All we can do is stand here and watch." He said firmly, and they all gulped.

Kage's POV:

"_This is Halloween, this is Halloween, pumpkins scream in the dead of night!_" I sang, bouncing from one shadow to another as Asura half-heartedly batted the others' attacks away. His main focus was on me, but flickering from existence to shadow and appearing and disappearing around the battlefield as I was, he was having a hard time of tracking me. Soul's piano playing was melding nicely with the song, and I whipped out a shadow to rake down Asura's arm before once again melting –literally- into the shadows. Blackstar jumped in an attempt to slice his head, but he ducked away, coming into Kid's line of fire as he ignited the Death Cannon. The gigantic Kishin stumbled back as Maka came down from the air, almost taking his eyes before he raised a negligent hand to block her. _The way he's fighting, he's not committing himself fully._ I thought absently as I flashed out of the shadows again, the real world hot and bright against my skin as I fired a Shade Shot spell at him before fading away again. _He's toying with us._ I snarled, landing on all fours as the shadows whipped around me like a tornado. "_This is Halloween, everybody make a scene, trick or treat till the neighbor's gonna die of fright!_"

Maka jumped back, slicing at his arm and jumping up to try for his head again as he scuttled backwards. "Let's go!" she shouted, aiming and missing for his face once again as I shot forward, the shadows trailing in my wake. Tsubaki clanged against the Kishin's armor-like skin as Blackstar joined in, slicing across his shoulder and landing with the others as I smashed into him. "Shadow take, shadow steal, shadow make, shadow real! Elemental Darkness!" I shouted, and the blackness beneath every object peeled away, scouring his body like a tornado, burning him like a flame, crushing him like rocks, and smashing into him like a tsunami. "_It's our town, everybody scream!_" He swiped the attack away as I was blown backward into the other's zone, crouching without any harm to my body. "His skin is as hard as armor!" Blackstar shouted when it was revealed to have done nothing. "Our attacks are working though. Let's keep it coming." Kid said reassuringly, and I took a deep breath. "You ready to go Maka? Keep us covered Kage." He said, and I nodded.

They all charged, Blackstar swiping up to hit Asura's leg as Maka swung down, Soul grinding into his chest as Kid skidded around, lifting Liz and Patty to fire at Asura's back, knocking him away. I lifted my hand and made a swiping motion at him, and the shadows reared like a wave, crunching into his chest to further knock him off balance. "Damn, you sure this is working?" Blackstar asked as they halted for a moment as well, and I slipped behind them as Kid nodded. "Yes, I'm positive. Just look around you." He said, and I cautiously felt out with my senses, keeping an eye on Asura. _He's right, there isn't so much Madness anymore around here…but that could be anything._ "Up there!" Blackstar said excitedly, and Kid nodded. "The barrier he set up is starting to weaken. That's proof we're doing _something_." He said, and Liz nodded. "_It does look a bit thinner_." Patty appeared on her gun as well. "_That's good right_?" The smoke around Asura began to clear as I narrowed my eyes. "We're Resonating well together, Kage's helped a lot. If we keep this up, we can beat him." He said, and I gritted my teeth around another wave of fear. "_In this town of Halloween…_"

Maka jumped up in a flash of movement to attack his shoulder as Blackstar went for his knees again, Kid jumping up to hit the crouching Kishin on the shoulder with a Death Cannon. I sliced at him constantly with tiny, razorblade shadows, humming the song as I ran alongside the meisters. "Keep going, let's pick up the tempo!" Kid shouted, and Blackstar snorted. "Hey musickers, are you even listening?" Soul growled. "_Quit your whining of course I'm listening!_" I jumped; landing on Asura's back and sending a pillar of shadows straight through his gut, letting it propel me into the air. "_I am the one hiding under your bed; teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red!_ Just shut up and let me concentrate in all this damn Madness!" I shouted, landing and running with them as sweat dripped down my back. Maka jumped up with a couple of forward swipes at the same time Blackstar came in low, shadows –not mine- wrapping around Asura and holding him still as Kid raised his guns. "Fire Death Cannon!"

"_I am the one hiding under your stairs, fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair!_" I snarled as he fired, sending some more of the Shade Shot spell to distract Asura as the blast hit him. "HAAAAAAAAAAA!" Maka shouted, charging at the Kishin while he was still blind and disoriented as my heart jumped. _C'mon Maka, hit him and hit him hard! I can only do one repetition of the song and the power keeps draining away if I'm only humming!_ I thought at her encouragingly "GENIE HUNT-" She cut off at the same time Soul's piano playing cut off with a harsh _jang_ of keys crumpling in midair and falling to the ground as Soul tumbled from her hands, landing on the ground with a dull clatter. The others twitched as she sat up. "Soul!" He had transformed, lying on the ground without movement, still and seemingly dead. I could feel his wavelength draining away. I twitched as well, hearing something from the music room Soul played from within his soul. _This is the end of the line Soul. You've played your last tune.__** It's my world now.**_ "SOOOOOUUULLL!"

Asura sat up, laughing menacingly as Kid and Blackstar gaped. "That's impossible, no way!" Blackstar stammered as Kid gulped. "He's still as good as new. There's no sign of a single injury." He whispered as I stepped forward a pace. "_This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween! Halloween, Halloween!_" I sang, clenching my fingers around the newly formed blades of my shadow-swords and putting as much encouragement and motivation into the words as possible to help push my friends back into the mood to fight. "Soul! Soul! Wake up!" Maka sobbed, shaking him frantically. "What's going on? What happened, why's he just lying there?" Blackstar growled, and Kid looked too. "I don't understand what's wrong with him either. Maybe-" Asura's booming voice cut him off. "Your friend bit off more than he could chew."

"He what?!" Kid snapped, and Asura suddenly vanished. "What the- Where did he go?" Kid murmured, and a clinging mist rose about us, strange and distorted figures of Madness twisting up around the meisters and myself. "He did whatever he had to in order to push all your powers to their maximum potential, which increased the burden on himself. Hehe, this has been a long time coming indeed." Maka looked up. "Because of the Black Blood he has in his body?" Asura cackled again, and the figures shifted and writhed as I let the swords vanish, pressing both of my hands to my forehead as my mind nearly split from the pounding headache of Madness. "Every power comes with a price, the Nightstalker their humanity and in this case, his sanity. But he wasn't willing to give that up, he wanted both, if he had just given in everything would have been _much different._"

I moaned softly, backing away from the voice as I kneaded my skull, stumbling a little as the pain intensified. "_If he'd done that, he would have known a life without Fear. Although, I think you all will live without her shortly._ _**Look at how weak she is.**_" He purred, and I whimpered as the Madness pressed in more. "KAGE! What are you doing to her!?" Kid snarled, and Asura chuckled. "_Doing? I'm not doing anything young Reaper; this is merely_ _**her**__ payment for power._" Maka's brow furrowed. "Payment for power?" Asura laughed wildly, and I detected traces of old bitterness there. "_The Great Old One of Fear and her brother cannot harbor the emotion of Madness within them. Not without giving up all that they are and all that they have. "Fear and Rage cannot exist in Madness" after all. The pressure of my insanity is grating at her sense of self, her sanity is being fought over by her very essence._" Blackstar narrowed his eyes. "So what you're saying is, she can't be affected by the Madness without destroying herself."

"-And the Insanity is pressuring her to give in." Kid finished, growling the words as Asura chuckled. "_Indeed. The Evans boy refused, and chose instead to pointlessly destroy himself._" He laughed again, and Blackstar gritted his teeth. "Shut up jackass, you don't know what you're talking about!" he shouted, and Kid glanced at him. "Quiet! He's trying to provoke us; we can't afford to get caught up in that." He warned, and Blackstar snorted. "Why should I care? This is my show; he can say anything he wants to me. ONE WAY OR ANOTHER HE'S STILL GONNA DIE TODAY!" he roared, launching himself at the nearest figure and blasting the entire area with his Soul Force attack. The pressure instantly disappeared as I gave a gasp of relief; Asura coming back into focus as Kid merely gaped. "_No way, he did that using only his wavelength?!_" Liz gasped, and Kid nodded dumbly. "I shouldn't be surprised, it is Blackstar." He muttered, and I sucked in a deep breath, flicking my swords out of the shadows once more.

He paused for a moment, and I nodded. "_Kid, we gotta keep going_." Patty told him, and I started humming louder. "_In this town, we call home, everyone hail to the Pumpkin Soul!_" I sang as he fired them both, darting through the shadows to hit Asura with a sideways Soul Smash. Blackstar came for his legs again, being warded off by a titanic hand as he leaped and bounced, running up the Kishin's shoulder to slice at his face, shoved away like a pesky bug once more by that hand as Kid fired rapidly. I could feel both of them. Their shadows were interwebbed with mine. _He's not even flinching. We have to gain some ground before the Kishin decides to strike back at us._ Kid thought, lowering his guns as the smoke cleared to reveal Asura once more, unharmed._ Or we're going to lose…_ The Kishin laughed as I stopped by Kid, panting hard as sweat trickled down my back, sticking my clothing to my body as I twitched some more shadows from the ground. _Damn, this Madness shield not only keeps __**us**__ in, but all the heat from the explosions as well._ I thought, tugging on my jacket to loosen the collar.

He continued to fire rapidly as Blackstar skidded to a stop beside us. "Please Soul…please come back." Maka whispered behind us, and Blackstar sighed. "What are you doing!" he snapped as her head whipped up. "Go get Soul!" Kid looked behind him as well. "Maka, you're the only one who can save him now, it's all up to you. We need Kage to synchronize wavelengths." He said, and I nodded. "Hurry up and bring that idiot back!" Blackstar said impatiently, and I gave her a weak smile. "C'mon Maka. A partner is nothing without a weapon." I whispered, still humming under my breath as I tried to prolong the song. "Kid, Blackstar, Kage…are you sure?" she asked, and Kid gave her a warm smile. "Do what you need to. I promise, we'll find a way to keep the Kishin back." he said, and Blackstar grinned. "What are you talking about? By the time she's back it'll be all over. It's just too bad for you Maka, unfortunately looks like your gonna miss the chance to watch my best show yet." He said proudly, and I took a moment's breath. "You got this kid. _Cursed meet, cursed part, dead we meet again._ I'll see you on whatever side of this hellhole we end up in." I said, brandishing my swords and twirling them a few times to get the laughed. "_Foolish children, you can't save him!_"

He was interrupted by a Death Cannon from Kid to his leering face. "Stop talking! This decision doesn't concern you even in the slightest!" he snarled as Blackstar clenched Tsubaki tighter. "You should shut up and start getting ready to fight me!" Blackstar shouted, charging towards him and leaping to attack as Kid kept firing rapidly. "_In this town, don't we love it now, everybody's waiting for the next surprise!_" I sang as I flicked out of the shadow realm, just above Asura's back as I delivered a Soul Force to rival Jack at his most pissed. Kid continued his fire as Blackstar clashed and clanged Tsubaki against the Kishin, me providing a steady income of extra power and Soul Force attacks. He _yawned._ He had the gall to _yawn._ A lazy finger flicked Blackstar all the way across the battlefield, and Kid paused in his assault. "Are you okay-" He was cut off by a huge pipe, also flicked from Asura's finger, which sent him flying. "_I'm…so…__**bored**_." He complained, gently pushing his hands against the ground as he faced me. "_Although, it is ironic. So many years, so much time, and still you are the last one in the battle to stand and fight me._" He said, and I winced as memory drifted across my eyes. _No, need to concentr-_ A large chunk, maybe a boulder, of concrete smashed into me, cutting off my thoughts and pinning my legs under it as I bit back a scream of pain and shock. "_It __**is**__ rather similar. First one to fight, last one to fall, and second one to die._" He chuckled, and my head impacted the dry, hot concrete of the ruined castle floor as my mind slipped away, caught between past and present, Kishin and Nightstalker.

_**It's not MUCH of a cliffhanger, right? Right…guys…oh shut up. *goes and hides in emo corner* I worked hard for you! I waited until I finished this to have dinner! (Which, as I am writing now, is 8;48 USA Minnesota time) And I didn't have breakfast this morning! SO YOU BETTER BE DAMN HAPPY WITH THIS! *pants heavily for a few moments* Sorry, I am suffering from lack of food and it makes me cranky. I just realized something, nobody commented on the fact I had Akuma/DK left out of the fight. I bet you all (in the beginning) thought they were going to have a sweet family whoop-Kishin moment, but…I guess not. Poor, poor Akuma, killed by a tree stump. Or is he…next chapter, next weekend. If I keep to my current schedule, I have three more chapters to release before the bonus one on October the 31**__**st**__**. Cause c'mon people, how boss would this be to end then? Huh? So I'll probably write all the chapters I want out over the next weekend, then publish them as needed. ('Cause if I've got like six, then I'll publish twice weekly n' suchlike) Well then…Review, Request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien! I'm off to FINNALY GOING FREAKING EAT!**_


	46. Of Dying

_**Right, so I should be updating on Wednesdays and weekends, if I have enough other chapters for this, so far it does look like something I'm gonna need to do, but I don't think you guys care, because you get another chapter! People, I have a situation that gravely regards the very survival of the universe and the continued livelihood of my sibling and myself. It concerns Netflix and the very natural laws of happiness, order, and all that is good and anime in the world. It can be summed up in five words, four if you include the title as one. They. Have. Removed. Soul Eater. For those whose thought processes have been shattered by this incomprehensible statement, let me run through it again using simple words and concepts. The a-holes of Netflix have decided that we as an organized group do not **_need_** Soul Eater available to us, and that they can take it off as they damn well f-n please. Oh hell yeah, I'm that pissed that I actually swore online. For those who plead amnesty and offer links, let me remind ya'll that I need something I can pause for long amounts of time, then restart, and will take a minimum of one minute loading tops at every single time it does so, as well as something that is free and does not require an email, which I do not have. (I used my mom's to create this account) Also that the people included in wanting to use it, me, my sister, me, and my sister, will need access from an Ipod or Ipad. You see why the nice author lady is frowny-faced now? 8) **_

_**(Time of Dying)**_

_Kage's POV:_

I stood in front of Asura, and I felt the familiar sensation of being compressed that showed Queenie was in control of my body. I felt hesitant, and glanced down at my fist. _Can I really hurt him?_ I looked back up, seeing the dotted figures of my brother and the Reaper approaching. "Asura…" He sucked in a deep breath, and his eyes met mine. "I will cast aside all Fear and become strong. I am the Kishin." He said firmly, taking a battle-ready stance. I blinked, taking a step back in my shock. "Asura?" Scattered bodies of Witches, Meisters, and Weapons lay strewn about the rocky cliff we stood upon, and I felt a very real concern I might soon join them. My fingers clenched, and the shadows fitted snugly into my hands, but inexplicably they flickered out as I glanced up again. My brother wouldn't have had enough time to delay the Reaper if he was headed here now. "Asura, please, don't make me do this." I whispered, and he lowered his head. I waited with baited breath, hoping against hope he would take it all back somehow.

"_What did you do to her!? Kage wake up!" A frantic voice as I was roughly shaken, my rolling eyes focusing for a split second to see black and white and piercing yellow eyes before the headache of Madness shot through my brain, making me convulse and arch under the heavy weight on my torso. I bucked, momentarily glimpsing Maka and Soul on the ground just behind me before I collapsed back down. Reality soon slipped away once more._

I panted, my cheek stinging from the aftershock of Vajra's inert blast. _He gave me no choice._ I told myself, jumping and fading away as the weapon almost hit me again, breathing a sigh of relief as I saw him miss slightly, giving me a quick wink. I knew he wouldn't hurt me. We briefly rushed together, and shadows missed barely as he threw out a wave of power. I gave him a quick grin as we came hand to hand, throwing a punch and ducking under his kick as I heard the jet of the Reaper's rockets above us and the aura of my brother settling around me like a comforting blanket. _He's suspicious, you need to either do the job or get out!_ He warned me, and I nodded, making it look like a duck as Asura punched where my head had been. His face was full of questions, and I cursed the limited telepathy I had with him. I couldn't tell him without stopping the fight, and the Reaper would kill me on sight if I did.

"_Interesting. The fragments aren't all gone after all." Asura's voice jolted me back, my spine twisting frantically as the Nightstalker survival instinct surged through me and I tried to get out from under the crushing force. Choked gasps were escaping my mouth, and I writhed, trying to buck off the invading presence. "Leave her alone! Kage talk to us!" A familiar voice, one I associated with affection. "She won't be coming back foolish boy. It appears the lingering fragments of her past life are trying to take over, without a conscious force behind them. She's wiping her mental slate clean, past and present." The voices and sounds faded away again._

We came even, and I grappled with Asura, trying to get him off balance and give him an excuse to flee. Suddenly there was stinging in the middle of my chest, and I looked down to see his arm. I looked up, tears in my eyes, and saw his icy smirk. "A-Asura?" The whisper dropped from my lips, and I heard my brother's roar of rage and pain at seeing the blow. He jerked his hand back, and I stumbled away, my glowing orange soul clutched in the palm of the Kishin's hand. "Sorry Nightmare. But I must erase all Fear from my heart." He said softly, and I saw my brother tackle him as everything went black.

_Air. I needed air. I tried to remember what happened, how this was going on, but all that I could feel was burning pain in my chest as I writhed for oxygen and a matching sear in my mind as my very being was gradually eroding away. Memories slipped by faster and faster, my name, my brother's name, DK, Queenie, Maka and our friends at…where was it? The place with…with…who? "Fear is warring with her past and present. How ironic. Do you remember your death Nightmare? Do you remember how I ripped your soul right out your chest? Pity you didn't hang around to see the rest." __**He**__ chuckled softly, and I twitched, my body going utterly limp as I forgot how to move._

_Kid's POV:_

Kage's screams had stopped a few minutes ago, and I watched in horror as her body writhed, twisting and bucking like she didn't have single bone in her body as she gasped for air. The huge stone pinning her from the ribs down was still there, and Blackstar was heaving on it to try and free our friend as Asura merely sat there and laughed. Suddenly she gave a great, shuddering breath, going completely limp as her limbs stopped twitching, her eyes open just barely and closing slowly. "Kage?" No response. Not even a tiny twitch of her muscles like she had the last few times I had called her name. My hand was painfully tight on hers, and she was not returning the grip. Her fingers were simply curled around mine, muscles locked in their position. I worked my hand free and pressed two fingers to her neck, feeling no pulse. Her chest did not rise and fall. My mind went hopelessly blank, and I sat back numbly as Blackstar finally managed to get the boulder off. _Kage…you can't die. You…you just __**can't**__. You said you wouldn't._

The shadows around her were inert and lifeless, shifting only as we moved or the light changed. "Kage, c'mon!" Blackstar said nervously, gently prodding her with his foot. No response. "Now…_die_." Asura said calmly, opening his mouth to send a blast from Vajra as both Kid and Blackstar glanced up. The blast hit and smoke billowed up, and Asura gave a grunt of dissatisfaction, the ashy grayness dissipating from the air to reveal Kid and Blackstar standing firm before their fallen comrades, weapons in hand. "I'm not gonna let you hurt them. _Ever. _See, I made a promise to a friend of mine." Blackstar snarled firmly, holding Tsubaki ready in the Enchanted Sword Mode. "We keep the promises we make. It's an Academy thing. You wouldn't get it." kid added softly, and they stared each other down for a moment.

"Kishin Asura…you die today."

_**Yay, all done with that. Moving on to the next chapter as I have now found somewhat okayish access on YouTube. We will see how well in future this works out, and leave me some reviews to soften my mood. I could end up killing one of the characters if I'm real pissed! Review, Request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien! **_


	47. Burning Light and Melting Shadows

_**(I don't know why on earth you might've skipped it, but there was a chapter I uploaded this Wednesday and you should read it before this one, obviously) Next chapter here, and I bet you all are really mad at me for the cliffy. Well, better get on it then shouldn't I? 93 reviews so far. *sniffles and wipes tear away* You guys are just all so awesome…UNLIKE SOME PEOPLE! Yes flamelalchemist103, they have removed Soul Eater completely and absolutely from their network. Not only that, but as I was looking through the Anime Category, they have removed about half the stock, including but not limited to Ouran High School Host Club, FullMetal Alchemist, and probably a heap of other stuff I don't watch. However, they have left…uh…*looks on Ipod* Black Butler (both Seasons) lots of something called Hetalia, Digimon, D Grey Man, Trigun, Blood+, FullMetal Alchemist Brotherhood, and a bunch of other stuff that looks like it's for kids, and in my opinion do not qualify as "anime". *tick mark* Don't worry though, I'm not going to do anything drastic to my characters now. See, when I get mad, you have about a day and a half of rage, and then I'm totally over it. Am I still mad? Yes. Will I still try to mow down everything in my way? No. You guys are in the clear; the 36 hours of destruction are over. *sarcastic thumbs up* Anyway, here ya go, chapter done. I kinda had it done already, but it was a little short for my liking so I extended it, thus the longer wait.**_

_**(Let you Down)**_

_3__rd__ Person POV:_

The Death Room was quiet. Akuma was on the platform with Lord Death and Spirit, Blair hovering anxiously over him. His wound had yet to stop bleeding. There was a pile of reddened bandages beside him, and Blair was holding a fresh one to the sluggishly oozing wound. It was a bad one, having impaled him through the stomach and just missed his vital organs, coming out in more or less of a straight line. There were no splinters in the wound, and his eyes were both closed tightly in pain, even DK's. His face was drawn and pale. "I wish I knew what was going on in there…" Sid muttered, staring intently at the ball as Lock, Shock, and Barrel hovered around the edges, looking slightly worried. With Nightstalker it was hard to tell. "Kage's wavelength is almost indistinguishable from her brothers, so we can't be sure whether or not she's alive or dead. But she isn't projecting any kind of magic we know of at this moment." Lock said quietly, and Shock nodded gravelly. "What exactly does that mean?" Azusa asked, clicking her glasses, and Barrel sucked in a deep breath. "Nothing. She could be using her meister soul. She could be dead. She could be using some kind of magic we don't know. Without knowing exactly what the situation is in there, we can't even begin to start _guessing_." He said softly, muttering a curse as his companions nodded sourly.

"Blackstar, are you ready for this?" Kid asked, and his teammate glanced at him. "Huh?" He brought Liz and Patty up slightly. "We've got to find a way to hold him back." The assassin snorted. "Hold him back, gimme a break! I don't know about you but I got bigger plans than that. I'm gonna kill this guy!" he boasted with a cocky grin. Asura remained silent. Kage remained still. The boys both sprinted forward with yells, intent on destroying their target as soon as possible. Blackstar jumped down from above, bounding up and down to strike at the Kishin's arms as Asura reached up with a grunt, impacting his face solidly and swinging his head to one side as Kid raised his weapons. "Fire Death Cannon!" The blast roared, and smoke clouded around the gigantic Kishin's head as Blackstar landed by his comrade. Asura yawned, cracking his neck a few times and further adjusting his neck with a hand. "Thanks for the excellent massage, it was quite rejuvenating. I thought I was never going to get that crick out of my neck." He chuckled, and Kid gritted his teeth. "We need to do something, we're losing ground quickly." He muttered, and Asura stopped pretending to play with his neck. "_Losing_ ground? But that implies you gained some to begin with." He said, splaying a hand as a red beam shot out and impacted both Kid and Blackstar, sending them flying.

Kid crashed into a pillar of stone, shattering it, and Blackstar skidded and rolled across the ground before collapsing upon it, limp. "When you're up against a power as strong as mine is, it's not a question of gaining ground or making progress, it's a question of staying alive. Unfortunately for you, that particular question _isn't going to have a pleasant answer._" Asura boomed, lowering his hand as Kid and Blackstar painfully sat up. "Mm! You're right…" Kid gasped, glaring at him weakly. "With the level of attack we're using now, without Kage to boost us, we're hard pressed to even put a dent in you. In which case…" He stood as Asura cocked his head, intrigued. "We're just going to have to attack you even harder aren't we?" he finished, staring at the Kishin with death in his eyes. _Dad…I'm sorry. I didn't understand what you were doing. I doubted you, in every move you made. Then the Kishin defeated you. And it's all my fault. And Kage…what can I ever say to you again? You trusted me, and I betrayed that trust by leading you into the spot where your powers were weakest and your most powerful enemy was strongest. I let myself be pushed aside so you could be hurt. I'm…I'm so sorry._

"Weak…pathetic…_useless_! I don't deserve either of them! I wish…I wish I'd trusted them back. Things would be different now. I failed them both. Maybe I don't have what it takes to do this." He whispered to himself as Blackstar struggled to rise. "But…I can try!" he finished, head snapping up as his eyes blazed defiance. He swung Liz around, pointing straight for the Kishin's heart. "Hear me now Asura! Die in the name of the Grim Reaper and Nightmare Queen!" The Kishin only grinned. "Liz! Patty! Ready?" Kid shouted, and they both nodded. "_Yeah_!" Kid raised the guns and then uncrossed his arms as his soul billowed up around him. "LET'S GO SOUL RESONANCE!" Blackstar and Asura merely watched. _"His soul is so strong…_" Tsubaki murmured, and Blackstar nodded. "Blackstar, follow my lead now. I'll need some backup." Kid said through gritted teeth, and the assassin gaped. "That's a low move Kid, no way! Stealing my spotlight at a time like this?!" he shouted, and the reaper cut him off. "We don't have time to fool around. Can't you see that right now all that matters is destroying _him_? I need you to hold him back until I'm ready."

There was a second of silence as Blackstar took that in. "_What'll you do_?" Tsubaki asked, and Kid took breath to continue. "This next shot…I'm giving it all I have. There will be no second chances. Back me up." He said, and Blackstar snorted. "Hell no!" Kid started and glanced at him. "What?!" The assassin shouldered Tsubaki, closing his eyes as he explained. "That plan doesn't work for me. First I'll charge right at him, then you can join the fight and back _me_ up when you're ready!" he shouted excitedly, and Kid gaped. "_Uh, Blackstar…_" Tsubaki protested softly, and he spun her again. "I'm the star of this show 'till it's over!" he explained further, and Kid rolled his eyes and looked to their foe. "Have it your way." He grumbled, and they faced off again. "Hgn-AAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Kid shouted, his soul magnifying suddenly and enormously as Asura raised his hand. His pointer finger shot forward like it was elastic, impaling the young reaper through his heart. He hung limply in the air for a moment, and then the finger retracted as he crumpled to the ground. Blackstar watched in horrified awe. Asura chuckled darkly as Blackstar's mouth worked, sound finally escaping. "Ki…KIIIIDDD!"

_Kage's POV:_

I was wrapped in soft, inky blackness, being rocked gently from shadow to shadow. My awareness drifted likewise, sometimes here, sometimes there, but on the whole peacefully drifting apart from itself. I closed my eyes, heaving a grateful sigh of relief. Peace and relaxation, serenity and calm. So calm, so nice compared to what had been happening to me lately. I felt like a battered alleycat that had inexplicably been picked up and put in a snug, warm, and dry nest with heated milk and fresh fish laid out for me nearby. It was indeed a nice change. I was, when aware of my own body, curled up in a fetal position with my arms wrapped around my knees, just floating in the dark. And it was peace. Images raced across my closed eyelids, and sounds fluttered and spun in my ears, the bits and pieces from my roving consciousness coming back and sprinting off in flickers and bursts, erratic, spontaneous. I was used to it, and it only entertained me when the empty, blank shadows would have bored me.

I frowned, feeling a flicker of concern. DK and Akuma were wavering, their shadows flickering in between consciousness and invalidity as I pushed absently at the presence, my eyes opening slightly. _Hurt. Pain. Sister? Confusion. Weakness. Exhaustion. Death…dying. Annoyance. Blair leaning over us, asking something, mouth moving but words failing to reach our ears as I sighed and gave in the inevitability of death. Drifting…meeting…leaving…being pulled back. Bleak hope. Just want sleep. Annoyance. Sleepy. __**Sister.**_ I flickered back, my concentration being yanked away as I squinted, seeing a thin silver cord that danced between the shadows, cutting in and out of existence but heading straight as an arrow towards the ball of compressed Madness. My astral cord. I gently plucked at it, feeling my heart stutter in my chest as the line flickered, then held. I let it tug me back, not feeling the Madness wavelength as I drifted through the shadows, closer and closer.

It was a deep part of any shadow witch's training to know about the cord. It was my spirit's connection to my body and soul, and if it snapped I was…well, nobody had ever survived to say just what happened when it did. But the teachings were quite clear. _It there is even a hint of possible faultiness, never mind trouble with the cord, then you need to get back to your body instantly. Better to be safe than dead._ My palms hit the Madness…and nothing. I could not get through. Frustrated and secretly alarmed, I pushed harder, trying to dissolve into the shadows I _knew_ were inside the ball, but finding nothing where I should sense them. I frowned deeper, then relaxed, letting myself fragment, feeling a slight tug, then nothing as I opened my bleary eyes again. I almost welcomed the pressing of the Madness and the oppressive, oven-like heat that was even more acrid than before, and I sat up painfully, the shadows breaking over me like waves in their eagerness to welcome their mistress back. Then I saw the situation. Kid was on the ground, and I couldn't even sense a hint of his soul. Blackstar was standing a little ways away, clearly horror-struck. I stood, clenching my shaking hands and summoning the blades out of my shadow. "Asura. You. Are. DEAD." I snarled, my eyes lighting with new purpose as Blackstar nodded, sensing my new resolve.

He turned back to the Kishin, remembering just what he had done. "Damn you!" he shouted, brandishing Tsubaki as I whirled the swords once, testing the balance. Asura raised a finger, tsking us. "Ah ah ah, you blame me for this? That's not fair; I don't recall inviting you to follow me in here. That choice was yours." He was cut off by a rumbling sound as I jolted, feeling a familiar wavelength surge around me. Kid glowed pink, then a surge of power blew both me and Blackstar off our feet as the glow turned blue, expanding into his soul as he rose like a puppet being controlled, his eyes completely, glowing, blue. Blackstar picked himself up as I stood, shielding my eyes a little from the brightness. "_Kid what the heck's going on here? I've never seen your soul do something like that before!_" Liz squeaked, and Patty giggled. "_I have no idea what's happening, but it sure is cool!_" she squealed, and I saw one of Kid's asymmetrical lines float off his head and connect. As it did so, a huge blast of power slammed out from his soul.

"_Whatever it is, we better think of something to do __**now**__._" Liz murmured as her gun was coated in a shimming black light, and Patty squealed as hers did the same. "_Yeah!_" Kid brought them both up, the already huge guns expanding even more as his second line connected. "Huh? What's that…" Asura muttered as the power flew around us again, pushing me back ever so-slightly as I gritted my teeth. "The lines of Sanzu…" My mouth dropped open as he said the words, and my eyes flicked to Kid. _Those stripes in his hair are his Sanzu lines?! I've never heard of a Reaper having them so visible before…did he know? _"I remember you now, you're the Grim Reaper's little son aren't you? Excellent, I can deal with you the same way I dealt with your father…" Asura, purred, and I was snapped out of my thoughts as he opened his mouth to deliver a blast from Vajra. Before even I could move Blackstar was there. "You've got the wrong target!" His uppercut caught the Kishin on the jaw, stopping him from firing as I grinned, readying my shadows.

"You shouldn't underestimate me! I'm the one who's gonna destroy you, not him!" he shouted as I joined in, flicking shadows in neat, razor-sharps attacks at the Kishin as he vainly sought out Blackstar, his head being whipped back and forth from the assassin's punches. "Take your eyes off me for a second and it'll be the last thing you do!" Blackstar continued, and Asura snarled, his hand grabbing at the cocky meister as he flew towards his head again. "Shut up insect!" He brought his hand to his face, but gaped in surprise as he realized Blackstar wasn't there. I gave an especially vicious swipe at his leg, grinning as a bruise formed before rapidly fading away. "Didn't I tell you? DON'T TAKE YOUR EYES OFF ME!" Blackstar roared, and his fist hit the Kishin solidly in the jaw. He landed on the ground, and I flashed and flickered behind him as he leaped. "Blackstar*Big*Wave!" he shouted, and his Soul Force attack slammed into the Kishin as he staggered sideways. "Damn…" He snatched at the assassin, who was already gone.

Blackstars began appearing all over the ruined castle as he laughed gleefully. "HAHA! Where you lookin'? I'm here! No over here! Right here ya slowpoke!" he shouted, and at the last taunt he slammed into Asura's jaw, knocking him further off balance as I joined in with flicking, darting shadow attacks. Blackstar zoomed around Asura faster than the human eye could track, bashing and battering the Kishin with Tsubaki and his fists as my shadows swerved and stuck like darting snakes. _How does he move so fast? And the phony ones still inflict damage?_ Asura curled in around himself, shielding his face with both arms as Blackstar continued to move._ Oh I see, its similar to the Severed Shadow attack…the ability to move so fast one detaches from one's shadow, yet the shadows left behind still retain traces of real matter…if the enemy starts thinking of you as one opponent, this attack opens them up for a world of hurt. I'm impressed, the Nakatsukasa family is one we should definitely look around in._ I thought, observing as he continued to attack. "Stop it right _NOW_!"Asura howled, and his skin scarves shot high in the air, coming down to impale each and every Blackstar as I dodged a strike of my own, flipping on both hands and twisting my body midair as it barely missed my heart.

"The real one is…" he murmured as they withdrew, and Blackstar swung into being. "Right here!" Instantly Asura snapped his head around and fired off a burst from Vajra. "I gotcha that time." He muttered, and suddenly the loud-mouthed assassin flipped into existence behind him, coming in high with a yell. Asura spun and fired, but the image wavered away again. "What?!" Blackstar whooshed into being behind him. "I warned you didn't I!? I'm the one who's gonna destroy you!" he snarled, leaping high as Tsubaki flashed, opening a gigantic spray of Black Blood as Asura choked, more of the same oily black liquid fountaining out of his mouth. The Kishin crumpled to the ground as Blackstar skidded to a perfect stop, looking over his shoulder at Kid."Now Kid! Fire away!" he shouted, then flashed away as the third and last Sanzu line connected. His soul swelled once last time, and Liz suddenly noticed. "_Hey, look at the stripes in his hair!_" Patty clenched a fist happily. "_They're all connect-y_!" Kid slammed them forward as they grew enormously, true cannons now as Asura stirred, looking up.

"_Resonance rate is at 2000%?! Impossible!_" Liz gasped as the black glow faded away, leaving her gun shimmering gold instead of the normal shiny silver. "_And the noise level…it's at zero!_" Patty gasped as her gun was revealed as well, matching perfectly with her sister's. Asura began to get up as green and red glows started up at the end of the Thompson sisters' guns. "_Feedback complete. We're ready to fire._" Liz muttered, and Patty giggled. "_Let's go!_" The blasts swelled, grew, and shot out towards the Kishin, twining around each other and melding just before they hit, and I heard him grunt in surprise as the bright light forced me to look away, and I winced, shrinking into the shadows as it continued to burn at my eyes. There was a muted explosion, and I melted back out, seeing the skull-shaped plumes of smoke and no gigantic Kishin as Patty cheered. "_Woohoo! Woohoo! Woohoo! Woohoo! Woohoo!_" she cackled as Liz fistpumped. "_We did it! We got the Kishin Patty_!" They cut off as the blue glow faded from Kid's eyes, revealing them to be rolled up in his head, and he collapsed back as the guns instantly returned to the "lesser" capability of his Death Cannons.

"_Kid!_"

"_What's wrong?!_"

_**Whew, all done with that. Well, I have some announcements for you guys, so listen up. First, this is roughly the anniversary of me discovering SE. Yes, it was just one year ago when I discovered this awesome anime. Surprising, isn't it? I do remember it was before Halloween but after Summer Vacation, so anywhere from September to now. Close enough *shrugs* Also for the BB fanfic, I have not forgotten it, I just can never seem to get around to writing the next chapter, so sorry for that. I'm working on it. Also, we are working on a holiday version of the May and Jays, with the Christmas one about a quarter done and the Halloween and Fourth of July just barely started. So, ya know, watch out for those in the next few days/week. Review, Request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien!**_


	48. I am a God!

_**Apologies ladies and gents for the late update, I was at the anime club meeting from my high school. We're going to the Anime Con in Minnesota! The biggest one, if I remember correctly, it's in April…but I'm so pumped! Yes, I am attending. FOOLS! *mad grin*I really need to; the only anime merchandise I have is Books 1-15 of Soul Eater! Where as one of my friends (curse her smug name) has a FullMetal Alchemist watch like the ones the state alchemists get, one of Death the Kid's rings, scattered Soul Eater and Soul Eater Not! books, probably some Hetalia stuff, and of course since she's such an artist some perfectly rendered images of anime characters. *tick mark*Luckily I have about forty dollars left on my debit card from the trip to England, so I can get me some good merchandise. X3 May wants me to buy an Alucard plushie, which is something I don't even know what to say to. Google "Alucard Plush" and click the Images. Yes, she wants something like that.(I understand there is also an Alucard from some Castlevania game, so to clear things up, it's the little red-cloaked one with black hair) Yeah…no comment, even from me. But one thing you learn very quickly in our mad little sisterhood is that you appease the Tiny One when she really wants a stuffed animal, or face A) Getting your eardrums burst from screaming, B) Crying (I can't help it, that stupid trick gets me every time!), C) Horrible and thorough punishment via lots of pink markers and makeup or D) A hug. Trust me, it's bad. *listens for a second to hear you all laughing* SHUT UP! I HATE HUGS! *angry flush* Anyway, I shall be attending, just look out for a bunch of cackling teens in cosplay outfits commenting on an anime. *thinks* Oh yeah…that's pretty much everyone there…fine, I'll wear a T-shirt with my author name and "Jay" written on the front and back. Happy? Hey, I might run into someone I know from here. *snicker* heck, I might give anyone an autograph if they ask. *bursts into laughter* Nah, nobody wants something like that from me. But anyway, on from my rambles, here's the next chapter.**_

_**(Good Time)**_

_Kage's POV:_

I stared at the cloud of dust as it faded away, my heart pounding in my chest. "That was one hell of a shot." Blackstar muttered, and I tensed as a twisted lump of skin shaped like a screaming face loomed through the ashy air, shadows swirling around me to form a defensive guard. "_But what happened to Kid?_" Tsubaki whispered as a soft red glow faded through the "eyes", and Blackstar gritted his teeth. "It's no big deal, this is Kid we're talking about. It'll take more than that to kill him." He said firmly, and I nodded slowly, licking my dry mouth as the ever-oppressive heat made me pant a little, tasting salty sweat on my upper lip. He slowly shifted Tsubaki into a fighting stance as the red glow increased, and she gulped. "_Blackstar…_" She was cut off with a sharp boom of displaced air, and I hissed as Asura straightened, back in a more human form and completely unharmed. "_Oh no!_" she whispered, and Blackstar snorted. "C'mon, don't get so upset Tsubaki. If he's back then that can only mean one thing." Asura opened his eyes slowly, his gaze lighting on me and the last meister standing. "I knew it. Today's the day I'm gonna fulfill my destiny and surpass God." I snarled silently, wrapping my fingers around the comforting grip of shadowy swords. "Time to end this Asura." He grinned, a scythe's blade of white against his narrowed face as he chuckled softly.

_3__rd__ Person POV:_

"Any movement down there?" Sid asked for the hundredth time, and the people watching the hole turned as they heard a voice. "Something must've happened. There's a crack in the Grim Reaper's mask that wasn't there before." Spirit's entire torso was covered in bandages, and Blair gripped his shoulder, looking worried. "Are you alright Death Scythe?" Sid asked, and he shrugged, closing his eyes. "Eh, could be a lot worse." He said dully, and Sid turned to Azusa. "Can't you use your Clairvoyance to see what's going on with the others and the Kishin inside the barrier?" he grumbled, and she shook her head. "I can't. Not without a pre-established link to at least one of them." She said with a scowl, and he folded his arm. "Then for all we know the battle could already be over, maybe they beat-"

"FOOL!" Excalibur cut him off with his usual grace. "Nothing has been decided yet. The battle is still going on." He said succinctly, and Sid blinked. "What?! Are you sure about that?" Excalibur stabbed his cane up in the air. "FOOL! Of course I am." Azusa narrowed her eyes. "Does that mean you can see whats going on inside-" And again. "FOOL, silence!" He suddenly sat in a chair, petting a cat lazily. "I require a cup of tea before I _deign_ to answer that." They all sweatdropped. "Uh, how about some coffee instead?" Joe suggested, and Excalibur jabbed his cane. "Fool! I said tea, and I mean tea." He said sharply, and the cat hissed. "This guy…" Joe and Sid muttered as one, and they all jumped at a voice. "Hey everybody, what's all the commotion?" Stein asked, and Spirit blinked. "Stein! When did you get back here?!" he stammered, sounding startled, and the mad doctor laughed. "Why, did you miss me? I guess I should apologize for causing so much trouble…" he said, and the death scythe snorted. "A little late for that."

"This is serious. Maka, Blackstar, Kid and the Nightstalker Kage are all inside that barrier, fighting the Kishin as we speak." Azusa snapped, and Spirit looked at his lap. "Maka…" Stein narrowed his eyes. "Then it's up to her, to Maka. We were right about it coming down to Genie Hunter." He said softly, clicking his glasses. "Her mother's technique…" Death Scythe muttered and Crona bit his lip. "Maka's Genie Hunter…"

"I feel pretty, oh so pretty…"

They all jumped and turned as they heard the weak giggle, seeing Akuma on his back, grinning up at the ceiling. A tiny bit of drool was trickling down his chin as he grinned widely. "Uh…you okay buddy?" Barrel asked nervously, and Akuma's eyes went in different directions, one looking to his left as the other peeked up at his right, his grin widening further. "Yeah, I just wanted to freak you all out." he said in a normal voice, sitting up and cracking his neck as he wiped the drool of his chin, stretching as he yawned a little, wincing and putting a hand to the bandage around his side. "Stupid tree." He grumbled, hopping awkwardly to his feet and balancing himself with the help of Blair and Shock. "Thanks." He muttered, running a hand through his hair as he limped over to the gaping hole. "Hey kid, shouldn't you be lying down with a wound like that?" Sid said in concern, and Akuma managed a weak grin. "What, this pinprick? Dude, Nightstalker make it their business to ignore stuff like that. I'm fine." He said firmly, giving the DWMA meisters a thumbs up as DK's eye faded to the black and red. "I'm okay, nobody panic, the demon is okay…" he slurred, holding a hand to his head and shaking it rapidly like a dog getting rid of water. "Much better. What'd we miss?"

_Maka's POV:_

"Well? Open it. Go on, do it now. Hurry up." Soul said, grinning slightly as I looked back down at the box. "_Don't do it! Don't open the box!_" Soul's voice echoed up from the tiny casket in my hands, and I furrowed my brows in indecision. "What are you doing? Open it and we can go." Soul said softly, hands in his pockets as I came to a decision. "Sure. But first, tell me something…" I said, and his grin faded. "Pathetic." He reached for the key, but I stepped back as he lunged forward once more. "If you're not gonna open it then I will." I held it behind my back as we came to a stop. "I'm not giving you the key." He blinked indignantly. "What?!" I narrowed my eyes, tightening my fingers around the smooth metal. "Now, tell me who you are." His eyes widened, and Soul's voice came from the box again. "_Maka…_" The other Soul clenched his fists. "What are you talking about? You know me!"

"You're not Soul." I said firmly, and he made an impatient gesture at me. "Shut up! Of course I am, just look at me!" he snarled, and I scowled at him. "Liar. Soul would never ask me for something like this." I said softly, and he gritted his teeth, reaching out for me. "I'm asking because there's no other way!" I stared into his cold, grey eyes. "Okay. Tell me why you closed the door! The real Soul would never have closed it, not if it would trap me too. He would've told me to turn back. I know my partner. And you're _not_ him." I said sharply, and Soul's voice came again from the box. "_Yes! Nice one Maka, you're not an idiot!_" I watched the imposter as his dismayed look turned into a mocking grin and he startled to chuckle and I stepped back. "Yeah, you're right. Well half right at least, I'm not the Soul you knew." He said smugly, and my blood ran cold at the familiar voice. "It's you…" Without warning or fanfare, he switched to the familiar demon form I remembered from my encounters with the black blood.

"Yes, I may not look like your good friend Soul but I assure you I am a genuine Soul Eater. And I am a part of Soul as well, just as he too is a part of me. Soul and I work together combined in a single body, we're partners he and I, the kind that can't be separated no matter what. That's why I say you're only half right, I am Soul but at the same time I'm not. It's complicated I know, I hope I'm not confusing you." I shook my head. "I've encountered such thing before. Kage, and her brother. The Nightstalker." I said softly, and his grin widened. "Theirs is a special case, I'm quite frankly jealous. Nightstalker can be legitimately described as Nature's recycling plant of power, they take in everything that has been lost to the real world and in turn put out amazing strengths to be ingrained into their future generations." I shook my head. "They pay a price though, it's not just something they can do by themselves." He splayed his hand at me, grinning. "Yes of course, power must be paid for, and this is true whether you're using Black Blood or becoming a Kishin or born a Nightstalker, every reaction must have an equal and opposite reaction. For Black Blood, your sanity, for walking the path of a Kishin, your own human soul, and for Nightstalker…well…"

He chuckled softly for a moment, closing his eyes and shaking his head before looking back up at me. "It's their own minds and bodies. Ultimate power like they wield is not meant for humans, not even special ones like Weapons and Meisters, so they have to supplement it. Whether in the conscious or subconscious, there are demons like me in all our minds, and Nightstalker ones are especially conscious. Although most of the clan never directly communicate with their darker nature, they still draw and feed power from and into it in a symbiotic relationship. The older ones gain shape, form and name bit by bit, until we are left with your dear friends Kage and Akuma. They managed to remain dominant, although Soul did not." I looked back down at the box, feeling how light it was. "So the real Soul is inside this box?" He nodded obligingly. "Yes, that's correct. Funny isn't it. Who would think such a small box could hold all his arrogance? But no matter. I don't need him anymore. My plan is very nearly complete."

"The world is nearly mine now, I can almost taste my success. You're the only thing standing in my way, but not for too much longer. You _are_ going to do what I say." He splayed his hand at me again with a smug grin. "Do it! Refusing to open the box won't help anything. If you don't unlock it you'll have the pleasure of watching while Soul and I die, so you have two choices. Keep the box closed and kill me along with your dear friend, or open it and meet a _new _Soul, one who's been consumed by the Madness of the Black Blood. Which will it be?" I looked down at it. "Soul is actually in here though, right?" He bowed his head with another gaping grin. "He absolutely is." I looked back down at it, then made my decision. "Right…then I'll open it. I have to."

_**Yay, Maka and Soul haven't been forgotten. Whew, so much effort, so little time. Now that I write this out, I realized that I might end up with the same amount of chapters as the anime has episodes. (51) You know, I am going to make that a goal. Ends on Halloween, has the same number of episodes/chapters as anime. Right. *nods fiercely and does fistpump* I got this! Right…I was thinking of something earlier…now it's gone…hang on a second. *gets up and bangs head against wall, then comes back and sits down* Now that my mind is on track once more from my previous thoughts as I was writing this, I need help. *clears throat* Ahem.**_

_To: People of Fanfiction who are reading or have read my stories_

_From: Catsvrsdogscatswin, sometimes known as Jay_

So, here's a little problem I've had for a while. I want to write a manga, but my drawing skills are moot. I do _stick figures_ for god's sake. And so I thought to myself as I read my reviews "Hey, look at all the other people who are probably far more artistically talented than I am." So, hear my plea. I need someone who can draw adequate manga characters and/or background who will be able to communicate with me in the timezone of Central USA. You can live in India, the Philippines, next door, or in Germany. I just need someone who can draw manga, I can do the storyline. You also need a computer or some other device that has internet access reliably. Please, for the love of everything freakish and unholy, someone answer this message. My original work depends on it. (Not the Fanfiction stuff you guys have read.)

_**Review, Request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien!**_


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